Safe Place to Land
by CBGirl
Summary: Jo Wilson has fought her whole life to make it on her own... Everyone who was supposed to care about her has always left her... When she moved to Seattle to further her education and make a life for herself and her daughter she found more than she bargained for... Can she have finally found a home and a safe place to land.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:** This story is somewhat of a collaboration with user red lighting. Red lighting messaged me with the idea/request for the story and has given me many ideas for storylines/plots within the story. The development of the ideas and the writing is mine as are some of the plots. I own nothing related to Grey's Anatomy. Hope you all enjoy.

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Jo Wilson paced the floor, nervously nibbling her fingernails. She glanced at the clock and took a deep steadying breath as the timer chimed. She slowly made her way into the bathroom closing her eyes and biting down on her bottom lip. Her hand closed around the plastic stick lying on the vanity. With another deep breath she opened her eyes and was greeted with a dark blue plus sign. Tears sprang to her eyes as her fears were confirmed.

Choking back a sob, she tossed the accusing evidence in the trash can and washed her hands. She shook her head as she studied herself in the mirror above the sink. How did this happen? This wasn't who she was. This wasn't supposed to happen, not to her. She had dreams and plans that didn't include having a baby, not now, not while she was in the middle of medical school.

She finished in the bathroom and was once again pacing the length of the living room a thousand thoughts running through her head. Levi would be home soon; his class ended ten minutes ago. She was just going to tell him, come right out and say it she decided. In her mind she invented different scenarios as to how he might react. The one she settled on, that she expected to happen, was that he would be shocked at first and then slowly a smile would spread across his face as the news sank in. They weren't planning on having a child any time soon and in reality had never discussed it beyond "some day", and the timing was horrible for her, but he was older and more settled. As an established English professor at Harvard, where Jo was in medical school, a baby now wouldn't be a burden to him and she thought that he secretly had been edging closer to being ready than he let on.

Hearing the door open, Jo whipped around biting her lip to keep the words from immediately spilling from her mouth. Startled by her sudden movement, Levi froze, "Jo?" his eyebrows scrunched up as he looked at her closely, "Are you okay?"

"No, no I'm not okay. Nothing is okay. I'm pregnant," her voice broke as she gulped down tears.

He wanted to ask if she was joking, but the tortured look on her face proved that she was all too serious. He slowly entered the rest of the way into the house quietly closing the door behind himself. He struggled to find words as Jo peered up at him through wet lashes. What happened next was far from any of her imaginings; she hadn't seen it coming at all. "How could you let this happen?" he spit out anger underlying his voice as he obviously tried to stay calm.

Jo's mouth gaped open and she stumbled back as if she had been physically slapped in the face, "Me? I didn't do this to myself; I didn't want this," she cried incredulous.

"So what are you saying? I did?" he huffed back.

"No," she said on a sigh shaking her head, "what I'm saying is that this was an accident. An accident that is on both of us."

Levi regained his composure as he made a decision, "Well, it's on you to take care of it," he pointed at her before walking away into the kitchen.

Jo stared after him in stunned silence. Who was that? She had never known Levi to be so nasty towards her. She pulled herself together and grabbed her keys. She needed to get away; she needed a moment to herself to figure things out. She rushed out of the house the door slamming behind her. "Jo..?" Levi called from the kitchen.

She drove around aimlessly for almost an hour trying to make plans for her now very uncertain future. She knew two things for sure: she was a mother now and she would never abandon her baby the way her mother had abandoned her, and she was going to need to find somewhere to live if Levi didn't come to his senses.

She hated asking anyone for help; she was a strong independent woman who had gotten this far all on her own, but she was going to need some help now. So with dread, she hesitantly knocked on Laci's door. Laci was her quiet studious lab partner. She went to her because she had a big heart and she would keep quiet. Jo didn't want to talk her situation to death. She needed a place to crash and she needed to be left alone.

"Hey Jo, what's up?" the petite blond asked surprised at seeing her classmate at her door.

"Laci, I hate to ask this, and I don't want to impose, but I might need a place to stay for a couple days until I can find something of my own… I wouldn't ask if…"

Seeing that Jo was upset and obviously uncomfortable with asking, the kind girl raised her hand stopping Jo mid-explanation, "If you need somewhere to stay, of course you're welcome here," she stepped back opening the door wider to let Jo in. She was always willing to help someone out.

Jo puffed out a sigh of relief and her eyes slid closed, "Thank you Laci. That really means so much to me. I'm gonna go home and try to work this out with Levi, but I may be back later depending on how it goes." Spontaneously she leaned forward and gave her sweet friend a quick hug.

When she quietly let herself in the home she shared with her boyfriend, Jo found Levi on the couch waiting for her. His demeanor seemed to have changed from when she left. "Jo, I was worried about you," he said getting up and meeting her in the middle of the room pulling her into a hug. She clung to him and cried softly into his shoulder.

He led her to the couch and sat down with her holding her close to his side, "This is going to be so hard. I still have so much school left. What are we going to do?" Jo whimpered.

Levi stiffened, "What do you mean? I told you I'm not doing this."

Jo's heart sank. She pulled back staring at him wide eyed, "Wh..what are you saying?"

He sighed and rubbed his face, "I'm not going to be a dad, Jo. I want to be with you… but I don't want a kid… At least not now, I don't know if I ever will."

She didn't know how she had read him so wrong. She stood up; she couldn't be so close to him. She paced over to the window looking out trying to reign in the anger she could feel rising up inside of her. Finally, she turned to him arms crossed tightly in front of her, "So that's it, you're just walking away?"

"I'm not ready for this."

"You should have thought about that before you knocked me up," she snorted sarcastically.

"We're not ready," he reasoned moving to stand by her reaching out for her.

"Don't," she glared causing him to step back.

"I mean, we were just having fun, Jo," he shrugged.

Now she was really angry, "Having fun?" she gasped, "We've been together for two years, living together for over a year, and we were what? Just playing house?" she asked voice raising shock etched on her face.

"I like you Jo. I don't want this to ruin what we have," he tried again.

Her eyes widened and sarcasm laced her voice, "You like me? When you asked me to move in it was 'Jo, I love you; I don't want to be without you'. And I'm pretty sure the night this happened," she gestured wildly to her belly, "'like' wasn't the word you were whispering in my ear… But now.. Now you _like_ me?"

He spoke calmly trying to get her to follow suit, "There are options, I'll pay for you…"

She stopped him, "No. You won't. I don't need your money, and I don't need you," she paused and took a breath and finished in a quiet but determined voice, "If you don't want to be a part of this, that's fine, you're out, but you're out for good. Don't try coming around later when you finally man up and want to be a dad. If you don't choose us now, you don't get us ever." She walked back to the bedroom, stopping in the doorway, she turned to him and said resigned, "I'm finding my own place, and I'll have my stuff out by the end of the week. That should be enough time for you to figure out what kind of man you are. Once I'm gone don't try and contact me." She closed the bedroom door and packed her bag.

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 **A/N:** This chapter was just a brief look at how Jo ended up a young single mother all alone. Next chapter will jump forward to her being in Seattle for her internship. Thanks for reading!


	2. Only Her First Day

**A/N:** Thank you all for the reviews, follows, and favs. I can't tell you how happy each one makes me. I hope you continue to enjoy the story. Also, just a little background that doesn't really affect the story but you may be interested in. Levi is 8 years older than Jo. He is young for a professor and was in his fifth year teaching at that point during the prologue. Jo met Levi during the summer between her junior and senior year of college when she toured the Harvard med school. She was 21 and he was 29 at the time; he had just finished his second year teaching. They maintained a long-distance relationship throughout Jo's senior year and she moved to Cambridge right after graduation. Soon after the new school year started (Jo's first year of med school) they moved in together and had been living together for about a year when Jo became pregnant.

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 **Only Her First Day**

 _Approximately 2 ½ years later..._

 _"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Stand a little taller…"_ Music suddenly blared from the phone that had been tossed haphazardly on the nightstand beside the bed. Jo Wilson subconsciously heard the noise and buried her head further into her pillow as the song became part of her dream. She didn't wake up until she felt little hands patting her on the cheek, "The music going, Mommy. We gots to get up."

Jo blinked her eyes open and smiled at her two year old daughter. She caught the girl's tiny hands in one of her larger ones and kissed them, "Good morning, Katie. Did you sleep good?" She asked as she scooted up in bed to lean against the wall.

The little girl nodded, "Uh huh," and crawled into her Mommy's lap. Jo brushed back her auburn curls and kissed her forehead. She laid her head against her mother's chest and stuck her thumb in her mouth.

Jo relished the next few minutes of cuddle time before she forced herself out of bed to get the two of them ready for their first day at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. It was Jo's first day as a surgical intern and Katie's first day at the hospital's daycare. Jo had spent every moment of the last month and a half, since she graduated medical school, with her daughter. She wasn't looking forward to leaving her with strangers.

Jo got up and made scrambled eggs and toast for Katie and herself. When they had finished breakfast, she cleaned Katie up, brushed her hair, and dressed her in a pair of pink jean shorts and a white and pink striped shirt. She settled Katie down in front of the tv to watch a cartoon while she got herself dressed. She glanced at the clock as she grabbed her keys and hurried out the door with her daughter on her hip. She was running late.

Jo carried Katie into the hospital and down to the daycare. She signed her in and set her down on the floor kneeling in front of her, "Okay baby, Mommy's got to go to work now, but these nice ladies here will take good care of you and I'll be down to check on you, okay?" She looked into Katie's tear filled piercing blue eyes, so much like her father's. The little girl sniffled and held on tightly to her mother. "This is Katie," Jo introduced to one of the workers and handed off her bag explaining Katie's likes and dislikes and her daily routine. She didn't have much time and it was killing her to leave her baby. Once again she looked at Katie and kissed her softly on the cheek, "I love you, baby." And she quickly walked away so she wouldn't hear her little girl's cries.

Jo slipped into the locker room twisting her hair up into a ponytail just as the intern assignments were being made. "Wilson, Edwards, you're on Dr. Grey's service today." Jo looked around meeting eyes with Stephanie Edwards and nodding in her direction.

They left the locker room in search of their attending. Stephanie leaned over to Jo and whispered, "You know they call her Medusa, right?" Jo nodded as they approached the older doctor ready for their instructions.

Jo listened as Meredith Grey started rambling off what she expected of her interns. She really tried to pay attention, but was distracted with thoughts of Katie and hoping she was adjusting to the daycare. When they were dismissed, Jo and Stephanie went off to round on Dr. Grey's post-op patients.

Late in the morning Jo clutched her tablet to her chest rehearsing over and over in her head the exact words she would say to Dr. Grey. Slowly she approached the intimidating doctor, she hovered just behind her as she was finishing up a chart. Suddenly Meredith whipped around looking right at Jo, "Did you need something, Dr. Wilson?" she snapped. Jo cleared her throat and nodded stumbling over her patient's lab values and physical assessment. "And?" Dr. Grey raised her eyebrows.

"A-And?" Jo repeated.

"And how would you treat him?" the older doctor prompted.

"Oh, right," she mumbled, "Umm… I would.. We should," she cleared her throat again and started over, stronger this time, "He needs a CT, start antibiotics, and repeat labs in four hours."

"Right," Dr. Grey nodded, "go do that," she turned back to her chart dismissing the intern. Jo sighed and hurried away to go take care of her patient convinced the attending hated her.

After she had written the orders and ensured the nurses knew what to do, Jo made her way down to the cafeteria to grab some lunch. Stephanie waved her over to the table she was sharing with the other interns, "Jo, over here," she nudged her head toward the empty chair next to her.

Jo shook her head, "Umm.. Thanks, but I can't sit. I have something I have to do." Stephanie shrugged and speared another bite of her salad as she turned back to the conversation around her.

Jo opened the door to the brightly painted daycare and stepped inside. She glanced around and let her gaze settle on Katie who was rocking her baby doll. Smiling Jo crossed the room and stood in front of her little girl. Katie noticed her mommy standing there and jumped up out of her chair. She wrapped her arms around Jo's legs, "Mommy, Mommy!"

Jo reached down and lifted Katie up into her arms and kissed her cheeks, "Hey, baby girl. What are you doing?"

"I pwaying," she said tangling her fingers in Jo's hair.

"You're playing? Are you having fun?" Jo sat down at a table and unwrapped her sandwich.

"Uh huh," she nodded, "I wock my baby." She leaned back against Jo's chest as she ate her lunch. When her sandwich was gone, Jo opened a package of apple slices and shared them with Katie.

Meanwhile in the cafeteria, Meredith approached the intern table. Her eyes flitted over each one, "Where is the other one, what's her name? Wilson, where's Wilson?" the attending asked finally coming up with the younger doctor's name.

The interns looked at one another and shook their heads. "She had something to do," Stephanie spoke up.

Meredith waved her hand ignoring the excuse, "Well, as you all know the intern that shows the most promise is awarded the chance to perform their first surgery, an appendectomy," she explained disinterestedly, "It's Dr. Wilson's. So if you see her, tell her to come find me."

Doctor Shane Ross piped up attempting to get Meredith's attention, "Since she's not here," he flashed a smile at the general surgeon, "I could do it."

"Just find Wilson," Meredith said turning on her heel and walking away.

After throwing away her trash, Jo settled back into the chair and cuddled Katie on her lap until the little girl fell asleep. She carried her over to one of the cots in the room laid her doll down beside her and went back to work.

She slipped into the elevator just as the doors were about to close. Dr. Grey lifted her eyes from the tablet in her hands to see who had joined her. She noticed Jo cowering in the corner minding her own business. "How is Mr. Rand?" she questioned about the patient they had discussed earlier. The intern dutifully rattled off the man's most recent lab and CT results. Meredith nodded satisfied and said, "The intern appy is yours. Prep the patient in 4420 and be ready to scrub in at 3:00."

Stunned Jo gushed, "Really? Dr. Grey thank you, thank you so much." The older surgeon didn't respond and just stepped off the elevator when the doors opened.

At 3:00 Jo and Meredith met in the OR. The patient was prepped and ready for surgery. The surgery was going smoothly just as expected. Jo successfully removed the appendix. Then suddenly out of nowhere there was blood filling the patient's open abdomen. Jo froze as the room went fuzzy before her eyes; she heard the muffled voices of the OR crew as if from a distance, "Blood pressure is dropping. He's losing too much blood. Dr. Wilson do something." Before she could react Dr. Grey was pushing her out of the way and Jo stepped back tears lining her eyes. All she could see in her mind was all of her hopes and dreams slipping through her fingers. It was only her first day, and already she had messed up in a big way.


	3. Secrets and Bonding

**Secrets and Bonding**

Jo curled up with Katie on the couch in the living room of their small one bedroom apartment. She studied her daughter while the little girl watched Beauty and the Beast, her "very favoritist", movie. There was never enough time at home with the girl between her shifts at the hospital, so Jo was savoring the time they had together, as stressful as it was at the moment. Katie was just getting over a fever, a fever that Jo had no idea the cause of. And since the daycare wouldn't take a child with a fever Jo had to trade shifts with one of her fellow interns to stay home with her sick baby. She had had two days off in a row, but on the third day Katie still woke up with a fever, so there they were. It was all worth it though, Jo thought as she watched the little girl smile around the thumb in her mouth when Belle started singing. Jo brushed the hair off of the little girl's face and kissed her forehead noting with relief that it was finally cool.

When the movie had ended and Katie had fallen into a restful sleep, Jo got up, careful not to disturb the napping child, to prepare dinner for herself and her daughter. She moved about quietly in the tiny kitchen mixing up a chicken casserole that Katie loved.

Katie ate more at supper that night than she had the past couple of nights. Jo was happy to see her appetite was returning and the girl seemed to be feeling better. After they ate, the pair played with Katie's 'My Little Ponies' and read two books before Jo bathed her and tucked her into the bed they shared with yet another bedtime story.

Jo returned to the kitchen to wash the dishes before taking a shower herself and turning in for the night. She gingerly slipped into bed beside her slumbering daughter. She tossed and turned restlessly trying unsuccessfully to shut her mind off. Thoughts about her job and her daughter and how she would juggle it all ran through her mind. She felt like they had been settling into a routine right up until it was all derailed by Katie getting sick. She had to find a solution for the future if Katie couldn't go to daycare. Jo had to work.

The next day the interns were working a night shift, so Jo and Katie slept in. Jo also took advantage of Katie's naps by laying down and sleeping herself. By the time she went into work she was well rested and ready for a busy night.

What she got, however, was not a busy night at all. In fact, it was the slowest and quietest shift of her so far short internship. That's how the young doctors found themselves alone in the barren pit. It was just after midnight, the post-op patients had all been rounded on and were all stable and improving, and the last remaining patient had just been discharged from the emergency room.

Jo yawned and stretched as she plopped down in a chair behind the nurses station. Heather Brooks and Leah Murphy were leaning on the counter across from her and Shane and Stephanie were just returning from a coffee run. Stephanie handed out the drinks and looked around with a shake of her head, "How can it be so quiet around here? I've never seen it like this."

"Steph!" Jo chided, "You never say the 'q' word in a hospital."

Shane stifled a yawn, "I don't know, I would welcome some action about now."

Another half hour passed with no pages, no patients, and no emergencies. The interns were still hanging around the ER, but were now lounging on the empty gurneys. "You know," Jo started breaking the sleepy silence among them, "we really don't know each other very well. I mean, I know nothing about you guys.."

"So?" Shane interrupted.

"So.." Jo rolled her eyes in his direction, "we should do that; get to know each other, I mean," she explained.

"We do need to kill time," Steph shrugged getting on board.

"Yeah, I like it," Leah agreed and Heather nodded along.

"So we go around and tell something, some big secret, none of us knows about you," Jo finished. The other three girls shared eager smiles and nods and then all four pairs of eyes turned on Shane.

"Okay.. Okay, fine," he piped up feigning indifference. "I'll go first," he offered sitting up and turning towards the others, "I kinda have a little crush on Dr. Yang."

Jo snickered, "It's supposed to be something none of us already know about you."

"Yeah," Stephanie chimed in, "and this isn't high school, nobody cares about your crushes."

"Fine," he pouted, "You go then," he pointed at Stephanie.

"Okay," she nodded slowly a self-conscious smile on her lips, "I went to college on a cheerleading scholarship."

"No way," Jo's eyes widened, "show me. Do a cheer." After encouragement from the others she finally obliged and performed one of her old college cheers.

"As funny as that is… And it is funny," Shane criticized, "it's no deep dark secret."

Stephanie glared at him and huffed, "It just had to be something no one knew," she emphasized, "nobody said anything about a secret," her eyes flashed.

"Actually, Jo did say a secret," Heather corrected meekly.

"Oh yeah? Well let's hear yours then," Steph challenged. Jo sat back shaking her head. It was supposed to be lighthearted learning about each other not bickering and competing.

"Okay... I still, at almost thirty years old, make up illnesses and emergencies to get my parents together. They divorced when I was ten and I'm still trying to get them back together."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Shane cracked a smile.

Jo glared at him, "Heather I'm sorry about your parents. That must have been hard on you," she sympathized with the other doctor placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, it was a long time ago. I just need to accept it and get over it," she shrugged.

"Maybe so, but it still hurts you, so I'm sorry you have to go through it," they shared an understanding smile.

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group until Leah cleared her throat, "I can top that."

"Shoot," Heather said glad to have the attention off of her.

"My mom knew Mark Sloan.."

"Dr. Mark Sloan, plastics wizard? That Mark Sloan?" Stephanie asked intrigued.

"Yeah, that Mark Sloan," Leah confirmed, "Anyway, he and my mom were kind of a thing a long time ago and he pulled some strings and helped me get into the program here."

"What?!" Heather and Jo asked at the same time while Shane just sat back and snickered.

"I knew it.. I knew you didn't get here all on your own," Stephanie gasped.

"Hey," Leah retorted back angrily narrowing her eyes at the other woman.

"Steph!" Jo chastised trying to defuse the situation. Leah and Stephanie continued to glare at each other. "I've got you all beat," Jo jumped in again, "I've got a kid." All eyes turned towards her shock written on each face.

"What?" Leah asked sure she didn't hear right.

"I have a two year old daughter," Jo elaborated digging her phone out of her pocket and finding a picture to show them.

"That explains so much," Stephanie said slowly.

"Yeah it does… Wait, it does?" Heather asked confused.

"Yeah, like where Jo disappears to all the time," Steph explained.

"And why she doesn't ever go out to grab a drink with us," Leah added. Jo nodded along with their examples.

"Yesterday when I covered your shift?" Stephanie questioned.

"Katie had a fever and I couldn't leave her in daycare," Jo answered one shoulder rising and falling casually. She held her phone with Katie's picture pulled up out to the others.

They all voiced how cute the little girl was. "She looks just like you," Heather commented.

Jo smiled proudly at her observation, but in reality she knew the girl was a perfect mix of her mother and father. She had Jo's dark hair but highlighted with the red of her dad's Irish roots making it a mess of dark auburn curls. Her face shape, nose, and mouth were Jo's, but she had Levi's clear bright blue eyes. And when she was concentrating or angry her expression looked so much like him, but when she smiled, when she smiled it was all Jo.

"What about her dad?" Stephanie asked hesitantly, "Are you married? divorced?"

"No," Jo stated simply, "He's not in the picture." The group fell quiet again taking in all that they had learned about each other.

"Well, this has been fun," Shane finally said, "and I feel oh so connected to you all now, but I'm going to go find an empty on-call room and try to get a little sleep before this unusually slow night gets crazy."

They all agreed that was a good idea and moved off in separate directions. Jo made her way to the daycare to check in on Katie before finding a bed. She snuck in quietly and watched Katie's even breathing. She bent down and brushed a feather-light kiss to her baby girl's cheek and then left as quietly as she had entered. She found a bed and settled in waiting for sleep to claim her or for her pager to announce that she was needed somewhere in the hospital.

Jo was pulled from her sleep in the wee hours of the morning. She treated several patients in the ER and rounded again on her post-ops. By the time the attendings arrived the next morning she had everything in order and was ready to present their cases. She gave thorough but concise reports on each patient and handed over care.

She met up with the other tired interns in the locker room and quickly changed into her street clothes. She bid goodbye to her friends and went to grab Katie from daycare so they could go home. When she entered the room she found Katie standing by a woman holding a baby girl. Katie was rubbing the girl's silky black hair and talking quietly to her. Jo approached and cleared her throat softly so as not to startle anyone, "Oh, Dr. Torres, good morning," she said upon realizing it was the orthopedic surgeon with her own daughter sleeping peacefully in her lap. Callie returned her smile. "Katie, what are you doing?" Jo questioned looking down at her daughter with raised eyebrows.

"Pitty baby," Katie said still running her fingers through Sofia's hair. Jo held back a chuckle Dr. Torres's daughter looked to be only a year or so younger than Katie, hardly a baby in comparison.

"She is pretty, Katie. I'm sorry, Dr. Torres, is she bothering you?"

"No, not at all," Callie reassured with a warm smile. "She's yours?"

Jo placed a hand on Katie's back, "My daughter, yeah."

"Well, she is a pretty little girl and so sweet."

"Thanks, I think so," Jo replied. "Come on Katie, we need to get home. We'll stop for breakfast on the way." She gathered Katie's stuff and lifted the little girl up into her arms.

"Yeah, I've really got to get to work too," Callie said on a sigh. "It's so hard to leave them isn't it?"

"It really is," the intern agreed taking pleasure in the way Katie nuzzled her head in the crook of her neck popping her thumb in her mouth.

Callie smiled at the picture the young doctor made with her daughter, "Maybe you'll be on my service soon," she said as she waved goodbye.

"Maybe so," Jo whispered watching the attending leave feeling like she may have just made an ally. She shook herself out of her reverie and headed for the door. "You want pancakes, sweet girl?"


	4. I Can't Fail

**I Can't Fail**

Jo followed Callie out of the daycare after dropping their daughters off for the day. They were about to split up and go their separate ways when they were both paged to the ER. They turned in that direction and jogged through the halls. Shane Ross was already there waiting for Callie, his attending. Grabbing a trauma gown, Jo stayed right on Alex Karev's heels. She had been paired with the peds attending.

"Why are you following me?" the grouchy doctor snarled at her.

Jo stopped short, "I'm your intern," she smiled tentatively.

"Oh right… Yeah. You got a name, intern?"

"Jo Wilson," she held out her hand.

Ignoring her hand Alex smirked, "Jo. I like chicks with boy names."

"Alex," Callie grumbled rolling her eyes.

"What? I do. It's hot." The ambulance pulled up and backed towards the gathered doctors. "Wilson stand over there and try not to mess anything up," Alex directed.

"Alex, they're interns. They're here to learn and we are here to teach them. Not sleep with them. Wilson, step up here," Callie admonished. Alex rolled his eyes as they pushed the gurney inside to treat their young patient.

Jo was trying to find a heartbeat in the nearly severed foot with a handheld doppler. She met Dr. Torres' eyes and shook her head. Callie sighed, "Let's get her up to OR. We've gotta get this under control." She was dreading the amputation she was about to have to perform.

They unlocked the bed wheels and started moving. Jo's eyes widened, "No, no, no.. Her toes just twitched. There has to be blood flow. You can save it! You can save her foot!"

The older doctor's eyes lit up and a trace of a smile played across her lips, "I can sure try," she promised.

They moved all the faster towards the waiting elevator. Just as Jo was about to slip in, Karev stopped her, "Sorry, Wilson, I need you on the floor looking after my post-ops."

Jo groaned and looked at him in disbelief, "Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously. We've got plenty of doctors here. I need someone up there. Now go," he left no room for further argument. Jo sulked off.

"Really, Alex?" Callie questioned him, "She could have at least scrubbed in for part of the surgery."

"No she couldn't, Torres. You know why? Because I'm trying to keep the peds floor above water while your wife heals. So no, no she couldn't scrub in."

Later that day Jo followed Dr. Karev into a patient's room to update the parents on his status. He greeted the child with a high five and a joke and then turned to the parents all professional and down to business. Jo stayed behind when he left the room and explained in normal person terms the medical jargon Alex had told them. Alex noticed through the window the mother hugging Jo tightly. "What was that all about?" he asked when she stepped out of the room.

"What?" she asked confused.

"All the hugging."

"Oh, I was just explaining where Mikey is at in his treatment," she shrugged.

"What do you think I just did?" he snarked.

"I know, I just restated what you had told them. Dr. Karev," Jo hesitated, "You are great with the kids, but not always so much with the parents," she bit her lip and waited for the rebuke she was sure was coming.

"What was that, Wilson?" he asked anger starting to bubble in his blood. How dare she question his manner with patients and families.

"What I mean is.. That's their kid in there. This is normal for you this is your everyday, but it's not theirs and they are one hundred percent wrapped up in that kid. So what they listen for is to hear that their kid is going to be okay and that you know what's wrong and how to make it better. Everything else is just words. So I just reiterated what you said giving them a minute to let it sink in that their baby, their world is getting better."

"Dr. Wilson," Alex started, calming down.

"I know, Sam needs a dressing change and Emily's catheter needs emptied," she said turning to go return to the scut she had been doing all day.

"Actually, I was going to say, good job"

She turned back to Karev, "Thanks," she said simply.

He shook his head as she walked away. She had been surprising him all day with the way she related to the kids they were treating but more than that to their parents. Maybe she had it, maybe she could make a good peds surgeon he thought turning back to the chart in his hands.

After her shift was over, Jo returned to the daycare to pick up Katie. The little girl ran into her arms and squeezed her tightly. "Oh baby, this is just what Mommy needed," Jo mumbled into the top of the girl's head taking in her sweet baby scent and kissing her hair.

"Rough day?" Callie asked coming up behind her.

"Yeah something like that," she admitted. "Hey, how did your surgery turn out?"

Callie beamed, "Great! She should regain full use of her foot."

"That's awesome! This is why I want to be a surgeon, making miracles happen," Jo confessed a hint of sadness in her voice.

"What about you? Why the long face?" Callie asked sitting down and pulling Sofia into her lap.

Jo took the seat next to her, "I take this job more seriously than all the other interns, but somehow they are scrubbing in and I'm stuck doing Karev's scut. I screwed up the appy and I've already been yelled at by Grey and Hunt for that, and now I've got Karev on my back. I'm obviously not getting this. This isn't who I am. I have always succeeded. I can't fail; I have too much riding on this. Everything is riding on this," she poured out her troubles.

Callie reached over rubbing a comforting hand across Jo's back, "The intern surgery sets you up to fail, and Karev... well he's Karev. He's grumpy and mean and well.. you'll see that's just him. He's not great with people; he's hard to take."

Jo gave a humorless snort of agreement in return.

"What I saw today, down in the ER, you are a good doctor. You've got good instincts," Callie encouraged, "You can't give up. You're doing just fine. You're learning. You aren't going to fail. Shake it off and come back tomorrow ready to tackle another day and another set of patients."

"Thanks, Dr. Torres, I needed to hear that," Jo sighed.

"Anytime," the attending smiled. "Now come on let's get these tired baby girls home."

They both got up to leave, "See you tomorrow," Jo called to her new friend.

"It's gonna be better," Callie promised with a wave.


	5. Both Sides

**Both Sides**

"Ugh… Karev is driving me crazy!" Jo stomped over and slouched on the bench next to Leah arms crossed tightly across her chest. The interns were spending a few minutes outside soaking up the sun. They had taken to hanging out in the loading area behind the cafeteria.

"What'd he do now?" Stephanie asked with a roll of her eyes.

"He keeps calling me princess," Jo spat out, "like I'm some kind of priss or something." She shook her head irritated. "I'm not prissy, am I?"

"Umm… Well.." the others mumbled avoiding her question.

"What!?" Jo's eyes widened in shock, "I am so not prissy," she turned her head and spit on the ground, "Huh? How was that?"

"You spit like a priss," Shane laughed.

"Ugh.. Whatever," she snapped standing up, "screw you," frustrated she kicked a discarded cardboard box on her way back into the hospital. The interns all fell silent and stared wide eyed at the box when they heard a muffled whimper coming from inside.

"Umm.. Wh-what was that?" Heather stuttered.

Squatting down Jo opened the box and gasped, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh," she whispered over and over lifting a tiny baby from the box. He was wearing only a diaper, covered in vomit, and looked to be only a few weeks to a month old. "Where did you come from?" she said softly to the infant. "Did you see anything?" she questioned her friends. They all shook their heads in stunned silence. "Someone just left him here. Abandoned him out here with the trash," sadness filled her voice and colored her features. "I've got to get him inside to examine him." She cradled the lethargic baby in her arms as she made her way back inside the building.

"What've you got, Wilson?" Alex said pulling gloves on and walking into the ER bay.

"I.. We f-found him in a box. Outside.. out by the cafeteria," Jo explained swaying gently as she held the baby.

"Who is we and why were you out by the cafeteria?" he asked gesturing for her to lay the baby down so he could look him over.

"Me and the other interns. We were taking a break," she laid the infant on the gurney. "He looks malnourished and severely dehydrated. He was covered in vomit when I found him. I cleaned him up."

Alex examined the baby who was beginning to fuss and suck on his hands. "Let's get him up to peds. Get him a bottle and run all tests on him. I'm going to call child services."

Jo got the baby, Andy, she had decided to call him, admitted to a room and refused the nurse's offer to feed the baby opting instead to give him a bottle herself. She sat down in the wood rocking chair in the patient room that was painted in soft shades of blue and yellow. Andy hungrily sucked the formula down as Jo cooed and talked to him in loving tones.

He finished his bottle and Jo sat him up in her lap to burp him. "Wow, that was a good one. You're such a good boy," she laid him in the crib and collected the supplies needed to draw his blood. Just as Jo was about to stick the needle in the baby's arm, his stomach contracted and partially digested formula shot out of his mouth barely missing her. She cleaned Andy up once again and soothed him, then quickly drew the blood she needed for his labs.

"Dr. Karev," she caught him as he was walking by. He poked his head in the room. "It's Andy," she started.

He stared at her blankly, running through his patient list in his mind, "Whose Andy?"

"That's what I've been calling him," she explained sheepishly. "Anyway, he just vomited, I mean projectile, like clear out of the crib, vomited. Dehydrated, not gaining weight, I think he has pyloric stenosis."

"Hmm.. Sounds like it," he mumbled as he more thoroughly re-examined the baby's abdomen. "Yep, you feel that, that olive shaped lump right there?" he moved his hand allowing her to feel, "That's the pylorus muscle. You can feel it because it's so enlarged. Get an ultrasound to confirm and page me with the results."

He turned to leave the room when Jo stopped him, "What about the mother? Did they find her? Do they have any ideas?"

He shook his head, "Security looked back on the cameras but couldn't see anything. They said whoever dumped him off was dressed in baggy clothes and had her face hidden by a hoodie, scarf, and big sunglasses. There's no way to figure it out."

"No, they have to try harder. The police, someone has to find her. She can't just abandon her baby. She can't just leave him here," Jo's voice was rising in anger in stark contrast to the gentle soothing circles she was rubbing on the infant's stomach.

"Turns out she can," Alex shrugged. "CPS is on their way. They'll find him a family; he'll be better off than with a mother who doesn't want him."

"No, she can't get away with this. It's not right," Jo insisted, "We've got to find her; she's got to pay."

"Hey, calm down princess," she rolled her eyes at the unwanted nickname, "It's not our place to find her, and it's especially not our place to punish her. We are here to take care of this baby, that's it. And until you've been in her position you have no right judging her or the choices she's made. We don't all have perfect happy lives."

"Like I have, right?" she sassed back sarcastically.

"Well, if it fits," he replied with a smirk.

"You think you've got me all figured out, but you really don't know me at all," she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm a pretty good judge of character," he countered.

"Oh yeah, shoot," she challenged.

"Ok… You went to Princeton and Harvard. You went to fancy schools and wear fancy jewelry," he pointed to her watch, "I'm gonna say you're an only child; your daddy is a high powered lawyer or doctor who put you in all the best schools and got you all the best mentors, and your mom stayed at home spending his money and planning his fancy-pants dinner parties. How close am I?" he asked with a cocky wink.

"Ha," she gave a humorless chuckle, "I don't even know my daddy; I never met him. My mom left me at a fire station when I was two weeks old. I spent my entire life in foster care. I worked my ass off to get into Princeton and Harvard and to make it through. And this," she pointed to her watch, "was a graduation present from my baby daddy before there was a baby and he walked out on me."

Alex stared at her shocked, "Wait, you have a kid?" She just nodded and picked Andy up snuggling him to her chest. "So the rumors about one of the interns having a baby and spending all her free time in daycare.."

"Yeah, that's me."

"That explains so much," he said quietly to himself remembering how well Jo related to the parents and the kids they had treated together.

"So, I have been in her position and in his," she indicated the baby in her arms. "I've been the girl all alone and afraid facing raising a baby with no help, and it sucks and it's scary as hell, but that doesn't make it okay to just leave your baby. But, I've also been the abandoned baby left with nobody to love them. Not every baby that gets put in the system gets a happy loving couple to adopt them. Some of them go through hell.. So much hell they can't take it anymore.. It breaks them or they leave.. Or both," she ended turning away so he wouldn't see the tears threatening.

Alex stood there dumbfounded; he didn't know what to say or how to respond. Finally, after a beat or two of silence, he cleared his throat, "Good catch on the pyloric stenosis."

She halfway turned towards him, "Thanks," she said quietly.

"We'll replace his electrolytes and give him IV fluids overnight, repeat lab work in the morning, and plan his surgery for tomorrow afternoon. You're scrubbing in," and with that he walked out of the room leaving a stunned Jo behind. She couldn't believe he was actually going to let her scrub in on one of his surgeries.

Jo got baby Andy to sleep and laid him down in the crib. She reported off to one of the nurses about his care and to be sure he would be closely monitored since he had no family there for him. She checked on the other patients she had on the floor and then she hurried to the daycare. After finding the abandoned infant, she had such a strong desire to see and hold her own baby.

Katie was just waking up from a nap when Jo entered the room. Jo picked the girl up and clung tightly to her. "Mommy needed this right now," she whispered into Katie's hair. The little girl put her thumb in her mouth and happily cuddled into her mom's arms.

Jo and Katie shared a snack and many giggles before Jo had to go back to work. The time with her daughter, even though brief, was like a soothing balm to her heart. It was just what she needed after dealing with Andy's tragic situation.

Jo was on call that night and spent most of her free time going between checking on Katie and checking on Andy. In the early hours of the morning Andy was becoming fussy, so Jo picked him up and sat and rocked him. As she held the tiny baby in her arms, her mind drifted back two years to when it was her own baby she cradled.

 _Jo signed her discharge papers, and the nurse asked once again, concerned, "Are you sure there isn't someone you want me to call?" The new mother shook her head. It was the same question she had been asked when she had been admitted to the labor and delivery unit of the hospital two days before in full blown labor. She figured the nurses had probably never had a mother come in, deliver her baby, and go home with not one single visitor the entire time. She could see the pity in all of their eyes every time they entered her room. She didn't have anyone and she was okay with that, had come to terms with it. She considered some of her classmates friends, but no one she was close enough with to share this._

 _She sat the car seat down and closed her apartment door behind her. She was truly alone with her newborn daughter for the first time. Fear seized her heart for a moment. She took deep breaths and talked herself down. She could do this; she had to._

 _The first few weeks were surprisingly easy; they found a routine, and Katie was a quiet happy baby. That all changed when Katie was about two months old. Classes had started back for the fall semester. Jo had found a sweet middle-aged lady suffering from empty nest syndrome to watch Katie for her. She was a pleasant baby during the days, not making much fuss at all, but in the evenings and at night she was awake and crying for hours with colic. Jo couldn't count the hours she spent pacing the floors with the baby screaming in her arms. The doctors told her Katie was in perfect health and it was just a phase she would grow out of. She would sit for hours and rock the baby all the while trying to study._

And even in those days when sleep was a luxury most often missed, when she was sure her dreams of becoming a doctor would never be realized, when she had no one to turn to no support to lean on, Jo would have never even considered for a moment giving her baby up, much less abandoning her, throwing her away like nothing more than trash. She had fallen in love with her baby from the moment she knew she was a reality. How can a mother just leave her child? It was a question she had struggled with her whole life and even more after becoming a mother herself.

"Wilson?" Alex barked interrupting her thoughts, "What are you, sleeping on the job?"

She shook her head to clear her mind and noticed the sun was starting to rise. She cleared her throat, "Um, I was just.. He was fussy and the nurses were busy.." she offered in explanation.

He waved her answer off, "How is he?"

"Good. Stable over night," she stood and laid the sleeping infant in the crib.

"And the others?" he asked gesturing out into the pediatric ward.

"Good. It was a quiet night," she answered.

"You better go get ready for rounds," he threw over his shoulder as he left the room.

The morning flew by quickly in a blur of labs, discharges, and consults in the ER. Before she knew it, Jo found herself in the scrub room preparing for Andy's surgery. Child Protective Services had found emergency placement for the abandoned baby and there was an anxious couple in the waiting room anticipating word on their new "son".

Jo stepped into the OR with Alex right behind her. "You ready for this, Wilson?" She nodded and took her place by the table. "All right, let's get started. Scalpel," he held out his hand.

"There it is, the pylorus muscle," the attending pointed out. He held the scalpel out to Jo, "You do the honors. Just cut through the outside layer of the muscle," he instructed. "That will allow the inner lining to bulge out opening a channel for food to pass through to the small intestine."

The intern looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, "You're going to let me make the cut? Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Just take the damn scalpel now, before I change my mind," he growled. She gingerly took the blade and made a small slit in the enlarged muscle with a steady hand. They cauterized the bleeders and examined the surgical field. "Good job," Alex complimented.

A phone chimed and the circulating nurse said, "Dr. Wilson, it's yours. It's the daycare. You're daughter is sick."

"Go," Alex commanded meeting Jo's concerned eyes. "All we have left to do here is close up. Go take her home," he insisted, giving her permission to take off for the day.

"Thanks," she said with sincerity. She quickly stepped back from the operating table, removed her gown and gloves, and went to scrub out.

Hurrying to her daughter's side Jo asked, "What happened?" She lifted Katie into her arms, "Oh baby, you're burning up."

"She just woke up from her nap, and we noticed she felt warm. When I took her temperature it was 101.4," the babysitter filled Jo in, " I texted you right away."

"Thank you," the worried mom gathered up Katie's things and signed her out of daycare. "Another fever?" she muttered to herself as she carried the little girl out to her car, "What is going on?"


	6. Friends?

**Friends?**

Jo carried Katie into the apartment and laid her in bed. The little girl whimpered as her mom unwrapped her arms from around her neck. "I'll be right back baby. Just a minute," Jo soothed on her way to the bathroom. She measured out some children's Tylenol, grabbed the thermometer, and returned to her sick baby girl. "Open up, sweetie," Jo coaxed and pried Katie's lips apart pouring the artificially flavored grape medicine in her mouth. She quickly put her hand over the girl's mouth so she couldn't spit it back out. "Nuh uh, swallow," she demanded. When she was sure the girl had swallowed, she moved her hand. She then gently placed the thermometer in the girl's ear and pushed the button. 102.0. "Shit," she mumbled quietly. "Katie," the little girl looked up at her mommy with wide eyes, thumb securely in her mouth, and blanket clutched tightly in her hand, "Does anything hurt? Do you have an owie?" Katie just stared up at her with her glazed eyes and flushed cheeks. Jo looked in her mouth and ears examining her, but found nothing out of the ordinary.

Katie crawled up in her mom's lap and laid on her chest. Her fingers traced the collar of Jo's shirt as she drifted off to sleep. Jo reached for the book tossed carelessly on her bedside table and opened it to the page she had marked with a bright pink highlighter. She laid it next to her on the bed and quietly studied as her daughter slept.

Jo carefully laid Katie down and went to the kitchen. She opened a couple cans of soup and put them on the stove to heat up. She made some toast and butter and poured some juice for Katie and grabbed a bottle of water for herself. Katie was just starting to stir when she went back to the room to check on her. She immediately felt the girl's head noting it was still quite hot. Once again she took her temperature. 102.6. "What is wrong?" Jo wondered to herself. She made a move to get up and Katie cried out for her. Easily lifting the girl into her arms she carried her into the bathroom and retrieved the children's ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet. "Here, let's try this," she said repeating the process from before. "Do you want some soup?" Katie shook her head. "How about some toast and juice?" again the girl shook her head.

Jo stooped down to the bathtub and ran some lukewarm water. "You have to at least drink some juice or water after a bath, okay baby girl?" Katie just put her thumb back in her mouth and rested her head on Jo's shoulder. "No, baby, we have to get you in the bath," Jo said as she sat the girl in her lap to undress her.

Katie began to cry in protest as soon as Jo lowered her into the water. "I know sweetie, but we have to get this fever down," Jo cooed. She was trying not to let Katie pick up on her anxiety, but she was really worried. Katie had never really been sick before and now she had two unexplainable fevers within three weeks of each other. The first time the fever had resolved itself within a few days, but it was still unsettling.

After the bath and the second round of medicine, Katie's temperature was still high. Jo debated with herself what to do, coming to the only logical conclusion. She slipped her shoes on and grabbed her purse, "C'mere," she said scooping Katie into her arms. She carried her to the car, strapped her into her car seat, and drove back to the hospital.

Jo got Katie into the ER and filled out multiple papers to register her. After several minutes of waiting, with Katie curled up on her lap, they were called back. Jo explained to the nurse who was getting Katie's vital signs exactly what had been going on. Again, she explained the recurrent fever not relieved by medications to the doctor who came in to examine the ailing girl.

Dr. Carson ordered lab tests and a corticosteroid shot. "Is she eating and drinking?" he asked.

"Not much today," Jo admitted. With that answer, Dr. Carson also ordered a bolus of IV fluids to hydrate Katie. Jo held her daughter close and talked in soothing tones to her as the nurse administered the shot and started the IV. Jo was not familiar with any of the staff caring for Katie; she was a surgical intern and this was not a case a surgeon would consult on.

After the steroid, Katie's fever broke. Dr. Carson returned with her lab results, "It looks like she has a virus."

Jo cut him off before he could say anymore, "What is it? What virus? Because just three weeks ago.."

He held up his hand blowing her off as an overly worried mother, "The fever is down now, so I'm going to let you take her home. Be sure to make her drink plenty of fluids..." he rambled on. Jo wanted to snap at him that she was not only a mother but a doctor herself and she knew how to take care of her daughter.

Logically assessing the situation and the lab results, Jo's doctor brain agreed it was probably a virus, but somewhere in the back of her mommy brain was a nagging feeling that something just wasn't right. Pushing the thought down, she took Katie home. She slept restlessly that night, checking on Katie multiple times. The girl's fever didn't return and she seemed to be feeling better the next morning. Having just worked a 36 hour shift, well most of it anyway, until she got the call from the daycare, Jo was off the next day and could stay home and look after her daughter. It eased her mind somewhat to see Katie's appetite and energy return.

The virus, or whatever it was, seemed to have run its course and by the time Jo was scheduled to work again Katie was back to herself. Jo ran into Callie, like she often did, while dropping their daughters off in the daycare before their shifts started. "Dr. Torres?" Jo approached the older woman, "I was wondering.. I don't really know anyone here in Seattle, except here at work, and I just thought.. since you have Sofia. Do you know anyone, that you trust, to watch her? I mean if she's sick or.. or she just can't go to daycare?"

Callie gave her an understanding smile, "Sure, I have a list of babysitters we use. I'm sure any one of them would be happy to watch Katie for you. I'll get you the info." Then concerned, "Is everything okay? Is Katie.."

"No, no. She's okay now, but she had a fever a couple days ago. I had to take her home early. She's been without fever for over 24 hours now though," the intern rushed to explain. "I just.. I can't afford to miss any work."

"I'll get you my list," Callie said patting Jo on the shoulder as she turned to go.

Jo was once again assigned to peds with Dr. Karev. After rounds, he stopped her in her tracks, "Hey, Wilson?" She turned with a questioning look. "How's your daughter?"

She was taken aback, stunned he remembered, "Umm.. She's fine now, I guess. I couldn't get her fever down and brought her back here to the hospital. They gave her steroids and fluids and said it was a virus… But I don't know.." she trailed off, and then, "She seemed to bounce back quick; she's back to her old self."

He quirked an eyebrow, "Who'd she see?"

Jo shrugged, "Some Dr. Carson that was working the ER. Arrogant. I'd never met him."

He chuckled at her assessment of the man. He was a young hotshot that thought he was God's gift to medicine. He didn't want to be bothered with anything but the most extreme cases. Alex had only dealt with him on a few occasions, when taking over a surgical case from him, but he didn't have a high opinion of the man. "I'm glad she's feeling better."

Two weeks later, Jo groaned when she was again paged to the daycare. Katie had a high fever. She brought her home and was not surprised when the Tylenol and ibuprofen she gave the child didn't help. Scared, she packed her daughter up and took her back to the ER. She knew something wasn't right.

This time, knowing that Dr. Karev was working, she had him paged. "Wilson?!" he said in surprise when he saw her sitting on the bed with Katie.

"Look, I know this isn't surgical, but I know you, I trust you, and this is my baby. I have to find out what's wrong."

"Okay, okay, it's fine. What's up?" he asked leaning against the counter and studying Jo's face creased with worry.

"She has a fever again. It was 104 last time I checked, and just like last time nothing is bringing it down. She has no other symptoms. She doesn't act like she's hurting; she just doesn't feel good. This is the third time in a month and a half that she's had fever." He nodded as he followed her story. "She doesn't get sick. She doesn't have any medical history. It's not a virus; it's not. Something is wrong I…" she went on and on, growing anxiety coloring each word.

"Wilson. Wilson!" Alex tried. "Jo," he said firmly but calmly forcing eye contact with her. The compassion in his voice finally breaking through her ramblings and shutting her up instantly. "I'm gonna figure out what's wrong. We're going to make her better, okay? It's going to be okay." He spoke with gentle confidence noting in Jo what he had seen in so many other worried parents, and he knew now was not a time to interact with her as a doctor but as a mother.

He turned his attention to Katie, "Hey there sweetie, what's your name?"

"Katie," she whispered around the thumb ever present in her mouth and buried her head in her mother's chest.

"Well, Katie. I'm Dr. Karev, and I'm going to make you feel all better. Does that sound good?" She peeked out at him and gave a small nod. "Good. But I'm gonna need your help. I need to look at you, okay? You're eyes and ears and in your mouth. Can you help me out?" Again the girl nodded and turned to face forward in Jo's lap. "Good job. You're being a big girl. How old are you?"

Finally finding her voice, Katie piped up, "I two," and held up two fingers.

Alex widened his eyes, "You're two, wow. You're doing such a good job for a two year old. I don't usually like two year olds; they cry and scream and they try to bite me," he exaggerated making faces as he entertained the girl. A fit of giggles bubbled up out of Katie and while she was distracted he drew blood and started an IV. She never even felt the needle.

Jo watched mesmerized by how well Alex interacted with her daughter. She had seen him with other children and she knew he was great with them, but to see it with her own kid was different; it really put her at ease as a mother. Now she understood how the parents could ignore his sometimes gruff attitude with them. It was so obvious that that kid in front of him was his total focus, and he would do whatever it took to make them well.

"We will get her admitted and moved up to peds. I'll run all the tests. We're going to figure this out, Jo. Don't worry," Alex left the cubicle to give his orders. Soon after, Jo and Katie were escorted to a room on the pediatric floor. After a dose of prednisone and a battery of tests and scans, Jo tucked an exhausted Katie in for the night. She pulled the cot provided for her right up next to the bed and settled in herself. She turned the lights down and grabbed her reading light and textbook. She was only halfway through the second page of reading before her eyelids slid shut and she was sleeping.

Unbeknownst to Jo, Alex stopped by to check on them before heading home for the night. He quietly slipped into the room and lifted the heavy book off of Jo's chest. He shut the book and turned the little lamp off. He gently covered her up with the blanket that was folded up at the end of the cot, looked to Katie, checked her vital signs, and snuck back out of the room.

Katie and Jo both slept surprisingly well considering their environment. Jo was just getting around and brushing her teeth when Alex and a group of doctors entered the room. One of the interns stepped forward, "Katie Wilson, 2 years old, admitted last night with fever of unknown origin following a similar episode 2 weeks ago. Treated…"

"And an episode 3 weeks before that," Jo interjected.

Alex nodded as the other doctors scribbled notes. The first intern continued, "Treated with steroids. Labs show an inflammatory response, but no infection. Spiked a fever overnight but temperature this morning is normal and all other vital signs are stable."

"Plan?" Alex looked at the faces before him. When no one answered he rolled his eyes, "Repeat labs, continue to monitor temperature, and anticipate discharge when Katie has been afebrile for 24 hours." Alex dismissed the interns and turned to Jo, "Look, I know you've said you can't afford to miss work, so go get ready. I'll catch you up on rounds."

"I can't leave her," Jo argued.

"We've got her, Wilson. You're on my service; you'll be around; I'll be around. It's gonna be okay. And you won't miss a day."

She thought about what he said and debated within herself before finally giving in. "Hey baby," she said sitting down beside Katie. "Mama's gonna go work a little bit, okay? I'll be right around here and the nice nurses will be here with you and check on you. Can you stay right here and be a good girl for me?" She was nervous to leave her alone.

Katie snuggled against her mom for a second, "I good girl, Mama." She laid back and hugged her blanket to herself sticking her thumb in her mouth. Jo turned cartoons on the tv and hesitantly left the room.

"Are you sure about this?" Jo asked Alex when she met up with him at the nurses station.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fine. We have kids all the time here for extended periods whose parents can't stay. You know that." He gave her a run down on the patients she would be caring for that day and headed off to get ready for an umbilical hernia repair on a five month old. This was one day Jo wasn't upset to miss a surgery. She needed to be close to her daughter.

On one of her rounds to check on Katie, Jo stopped short seeing Alex sitting on the bed next to the little girl. They were coloring together and appeared to be deep in conversation. Stepping closer, Jo heard Katie telling him all about the different Carebears. "Oh yeah, which one is your favorite?"

"Mmm.." she put her crayon down a thoughtful look on her face. "I yike Funshine Bear cause I yike hers yehyo and I yike Baby Hugs cause her has a bankie yike me." She resumed her coloring.

"You like yellow, huh?" The little girl nodded. "That's why your blankie is yellow?" he observed using Katie's word. She nodded again concentrating on her picture. "And your picture has lots of yellow. You're doing a really good job on that."

Finally, she turned her attention back to the doctor, "What Carebear you yike, Doctor Awex?"

He scrunched his face up giving the impression he was deep in thought, but before he could answer Jo walked in, "I think his favorite is Grumpy Bear," she smirked.

"Haha," he turned to Jo with a sarcastic glint in his eyes. "And your mommy's favorite is Princess Bear," he said stressing the hated nickname. Jo rolled her eyes.

"No pincess bear; pincess pony!" Katie corrected.

Jo giggled at the confused look that crossed Alex's face. "There's not a princess Carebear, but there are princesses in My Little Ponys," she explained. "And you call yourself a pediatrician. You should know all about these things," she teased. Alex stood up allowing Jo to get to her daughter. She kissed the girl on the head and looked down at the picture she had been coloring.

"You've got a great kid there," Alex complimented, and then became serious, "I'm going to keep her overnight again. Everything is coming back negative, so don't worry. I can't find anything wrong with her. It looks like it's just an inflammatory response."

Jo listened closely, "But why? What's causing it?"

"Honestly, I don't know, but she looks good; she's healthy. We'll keep an eye on her." With that he left to check on his post-op baby.

It wasn't lost on Alex that Jo had been anxious and worried the rest of the afternoon. He decided to swing back by Katie's room one more time before heading home for the night. The little girl's temperature had stayed down all day, and she was lying next to Jo asleep; she looked the picture of health. Alex could still see the stress clearly written on her mother's face, however. He hovered in the doorway trying to decide if he should go ahead and go on home or stay. He had learned a long time ago there was something to be said for a mother's intuition and if Jo felt like something more was wrong who was he to argue. That was a big part of the reason he was keeping her another night.

Jo caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye, "What?" she addressed him.

"Nothing, just checking up on her," he shrugged. He shuffled his feet and cleared his throat, but didn't move from the doorway.

"We're fine; you don't have to stay," Jo dismissed him.

He blushed slightly, "I'm not; I just.. My hernia repair baby isn't bouncing back from surgery like I expected and I can't trust you idiot interns to catch it when he starts to tank," he feigned an excuse for staying the night at the hospital.

She snorted, "Well if you're gonna hang around, at least pull up a chair and quit stalking in the doorways. It's creepy." He paused momentarily and then grabbed a chair turning his attention to the tv hanging on the wall.

They awkwardly watched tv together in silence until Alex finally grabbed the remote and said, "What are you watching?" and changed the channel to a late night talk show.

Jo shrugged, "I don't know I just left it there. I'm an intern I don't have time to watch tv. And I'm a mother to a two year old, when I do get to watch it's always cartoons, so I don't even know what's on this time of night."

"Yeah, okay, I get that." They fell quiet again. When commercials started playing Alex opened up, "I've always liked late night tv. Ever since I got out of juvie.."

"What?! You were in juvie?" Jo's eyes widened and she whipped her head around to study him.

"Shh," he glanced at the sleeping child by Jo's side. "We weren't allowed to watch tv… Well for 2 hours on Saturday afternoon we could if we were on good behavior, so I was never allowed to watch tv. When I got out, I would wait until everyone was asleep and sneak out of my room and watch late night tv. Or sometimes in different homes I would play video games if they had 'em."

"Wait," she stopped him, "Different homes? Were you in foster care too?"

"Yeah, seventeen families in five years. You're not the only one with a crappy childhood, Princess."

She rolled her eyes exasperated, "I never said I was." She narrowed her eyes at him, "But at least you always had a roof over your head; I moved into the car I stole when I was sixteen," she challenged.

"True, I did. I also had a drug addict dad that got his kicks out of beating the shit out of me and my crazy mom that went after my baby brother with a steak knife," he met her challenge with a brash smirk.

"Okay, okay," she gave in, "Aren't we quite the pair," a trace of sadness evident in her voice. He met her eyes and a look of understanding passed between them. She shifted uncomfortably in the bed and turned her attention back to the artist singing on tv.

After a quiet moment passed, "You stole a car?"

"Five actually," she said seriously.

"Five," he mouthed silently, "You're messing with me now."

She sighed, "No, I'm not."

He could see the truth in her eyes. "I just stole fifty cars in one night! I'm a little tired, little wired. And I think I deserve a little appreciation!"

Jo laughed and shook her head, "What?"

"Gone in 60 Seconds. Haven't you ever seen that movie?"

"No. I never have."

"It's a good movie. One of my favorites…" he paused thinking through the wisdom of what he was about to offer, "you should come over sometime and watch it. We could order pizza, have a beer." He looked away out into the dark halls.

She studied his profile before tentatively, "Umm… Yeah, that'd be great." She wondered, were they friends now? She wasn't sure where his mind was on the subject, but she could use another friend.

The next couple of hours passed quickly as Alex and Jo laughed and joked together. Glancing at his watch, Alex rubbed his face, "Man, it's getting late. I gotta get outta here."

"Yeah it is," Jo agreed. "Don't forget to check on your hernia repair," she teased with a wink.

Katie remained afebrile overnight and Alex had discharge papers ready for her early the next morning. "I just don't understand what's causing this. Somethings not right," Jo expressed her concern to Alex.

"Everything has come back normal. You've seen all of her test results, Jo."

"And you think I'm crazy too, just like everyone else who says I can't just let it go," she said defeated.

"No," he argued, "I don't think you're crazy. You know your kid and if something doesn't feel right, you would know," he assured her. "But I think it's a stress response. She's had a lot of changes recently. New home, new daycare, mom at work all day. I think her body is responding to the stress," he explained his theory. "Take her home, spend the day with her, and come back to work tomorrow. You're a good mom and a good doctor, if something comes up you'll know and you'll page me. We're right here, Jo. We'll be here to take care of her."

She sighed trying to calm herself down, "Okay, thanks, Alex."

He walked her to the elevator. "Bye bye, Katie," he waved.

She pulled her thumb out of her mouth, "Bye, Doctor Awex."


	7. I Want More

**I Want More**

Dr. Hunt popped his head into the intern locker room, "We're short staffed tonight, who wants to stay and pick up an extra shift?" he glanced around at the tired faces. Stephanie's hand shot up immediately, and not to be outdone Shane eagerly agreed to stay too.

"Come on, Jo," Steph urged, "Think about all the gory, bloody stuff we could see tonight; after all it's Halloween, people get crazy."

Jo shook her head and continued changing into her street clothes, "I can't. I'm taking Katie trick-or-treating."

"Oh no, come on, she's what, two? She won't know the difference," Stephanie argued.

"No," Jo reiterated firmly, "I'm not going to be the mother that makes promises to my kid and then backs out. I'm not going to choose work over her."

"Fine, but it's your loss." Jo watched as the other interns filed out of the room. She tossed her scrubs in the hamper, grabbed her bag, and left, turning towards the daycare. She would love to get the extra hours in the ER and hopefully the OR, but not at the expense of her daughter. Katie would always come first in her life, before work, before friends, even before herself.

"Hey, are you about ready?" Callie asked as Jo approached. The two women were taking their daughters out together for Halloween.

"Yeah, just let me grab Katie. Our stuff is in my car. Did you want to meet at your place to get ready… Or?"

"Actually, why don't we go over to your apartment? I don't think Arizona would be up for company," Callie wrinkled up her nose shaking her head. "I've got our costumes here," she indicated the large bag slung over her arm.

"Ok, sounds good," Jo shrugged.

Callie looked around the tiny apartment as she followed Jo in, "It's not much…" Jo commented.

"No, it's nice, cozy," Callie complimented.

It was no easy task getting the two toddlers ready for their big night of trick-or-treating. They picked up playing together right where they had left off at the daycare. The girls got along famously. Jo and Callie sat back laughing and snapping pictures as they watched them getting into all of Katie's toys. Finally, they broke them up long enough to dress them.

"Sofia, you are a beautiful Cinderella," Jo exclaimed smiling at the girl on her mother's hip.

"And, what about her fairy godmother?" Callie posed.

"Of course, beautiful as always," the women laughed.

Katie had chosen costumes for herself and her mom. She was snug in a Winnie the Pooh costume complete with a honey jar for her candy bucket, and she had insisted that Jo be Tigger. Jo's costume consisted of black leggings, an orange tiger striped sweatshirt that had a hood with tiger ears, and a tiger tail.

The foursome hopped in Callie's car and were on their way. Callie took them to a nice neighborhood and parked in front of a house with multiple other cars. "Some of the other parents from the hospital were meeting here to go trick-or-treating together," she explained at Jo's questioning look. "I hope that's ok? It came up kind of suddenly. I didn't think you would mind going in a larger group."

"No, no, it's fine; it's okay," Jo assured her, although on the inside anxiety was gnawing at her. She knew Callie, and she liked her; they had formed a bond and a friendship, but she wasn't so sure about hanging out with the others, the other attendings she was sure.

Despite her discomfort, Jo enjoyed watching the kids. She hung towards the back of the group and tried to blend in. It was hard though, considering Katie was the cutest kid in the bunch, at least that was Jo's humble opinion. After hitting all of the houses in the neighborhood, they returned to their starting point for cupcakes and punch.

As her bosses were standing around talking and laughing amongst themselves, Jo's anxiety began to bubble up inside of her again. She glanced at Katie, seeing that she was playing happily with the other kids, Jo escaped to the kitchen. She splayed her hands out flat against the bar and leaned over taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. How did she end up here at a party with no one she really knew except for Callie. Sure she had seen them around the hospital and worked with several of them, but she didn't know them and besides, they were her bosses.

She jumped when a deep voice behind her said, "You make a hot tiger, but wouldn't a princess be more appropriate?"

She spun around to find Alex Karev smirking at her, "Shut up, jerk. My daughter picked this costume out, and I'm not a tiger, I'm Tigger," she retorted haughtily. "What are you doing here anyway? You don't have kids."

"I live here. What are _you_ doing hiding in the kitchen?" he asked with raised eyebrows.

"You live here? But I thought… So why is.." she stuttered confused.

"Mer wanted to have her little Halloween thing here cause she lives out in the middle of nowhere and she needed houses to take the kids begging for candy to," he explained dismissively, "but you didn't answer why you're in here and not out there with everyone else," he pointed into the living room.

"I can't. I can't be in there with them. They're all… and I don't… They're my bosses," she finally spit out flustered.

He shrugged, "So am I."

"It's different with you and with Callie. I can talk to you. I don't know what to say to them, and they all look at me like I'm an intern," she cracked a self-deprecating smile at how stupid she sounded. Of course they looked at her that way; that's what she was. She held up her hand to stop him before he could even get a word out, "Which is what I am, I know, but outside the hospital it's different."

He nodded once and handed her a bottle of water from the fridge. They stood in the kitchen in silence picking at the food, as the party started to wind down. "You never did come over to watch Gone in 60 Seconds," he casually threw out there glancing over at her from the corner of his eye.

"Well, I'm here now," she replied turning to face him, "and I don't have to work tomorrow."

"As luck would have it, neither do I," he flashed her a half smile.

Callie poked her head in the kitchen, "Jo, let's go. The girls are getting tired."

"Um, actually I'm gonna hang here with Alex for a bit. We're gonna watch a movie," Jo told her.

Callie's eyes widened in surprise, "Are you sure you wanna do that?" she hissed quietly to the younger woman, side eyeing Alex. Callie dragged Jo into the other room. "What are you doing? That's Alex Karev!"

Jo shrugged, "So what? It's a movie, no big deal." Callie gave her a concerned look. "I'll be fine. He'll take us home later. Don't worry about it."

"Fine, but call me later."

Alex rolled his eyes when Jo walked back into the kitchen, "What does she think, I'm gonna attack you or something?" he snorted.

"Don't be a jerk," Jo sassed, "she's just looking out for a friend. You don't have the best reputation ya know?" He ignored her and walked away to get the movie set up.

"Dr. Awex," Jo heard Katie squeal from the other room.

She peeked in to see him ruffle the little girl's hair, "Hey, Katydid."

At last, Jo followed him, "Let me go wash this stuff off my face before we start," she indicated the orange face paint she had used.

"Sure, I'll grab you a towel," he went upstairs and laid out a couple towels and a pair of his sweatpants and tshirt in case she wanted to get more comfortable.

Jo smiled at the gesture when she got into the bathroom. She washed her face and then plopped Katie in the tub for a quick bath. Alex was grabbing some chips and popping popcorn when he heard Katie's giggles drift down the stairs. He paused and listened with a wistful smile. He had messed around a lot with a lot of women and had decided settling down wasn't for him. He felt like he had lost his chance, but hearing the sound of a child in his house really made him stop and think.

Jo slipped Alex's shirt over her head and stepped into his sweats rolling the waistband down two times. She redressed Katie in the onesie she had on under her Pooh costume and went downstairs to find Alex. He was standing by the microwave staring off into space. Jo hurried past him and opened the microwave door allowing the smoke from the burnt popcorn to pour out.

Alex shook the thoughts from his head, what was he thinking? No way. "Do you, uh, do you want some pizza?" he grabbed the phone.

Jo gave him a weird look, "No, but I will take that beer." He moved to the fridge to grab it. "Are you okay?" she asked concern written on her features.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine. Just got distracted." He opened another packet of popcorn. "Let's try this again."

They sat in the living room talking while Jo got Katie to sleep, which didn't take long after her busy day. "You don't have any furniture," Jo noted looking around.

"Nah, never felt like going out to buy it, besides no furniture means people don't hang around. You saw how quickly the party wrapped up." Jo smirked at his response, how very Alex Karev, or at least who she had come to know him as.

They settled in with their beer and Katie's candy to watch the movie. After one particularly loud outburst, Alex looked over with an apologetic look to where Katie slept peacefully. With a wave of her hand Jo said, "Don't worry about it. She could sleep through anything."

The next morning, Jo got up and went to the kitchen in search of a drink of water or some juice or something. She looked in cupboard after cupboard without any luck. There wasn't a cup, bowl, or plate anywhere. No pots and pans and no silverware. She stood up and whipped around coming face to face with Cristina Yang. "Uh.. Dr. Yang.. What are.?. You.. Uh, you live here?" she stammered.

"Yes, I do. And you're wasting your time. There are no dishes," she grabbed a box of cereal off the top of the refrigerator and walked out, down the hall and out the front door. Jo stood frozen in the kitchen gaping after her.

When she finally came to, she hurried upstairs. She didn't want Katie waking up in a strange place alone. She sat down on the edge of the bed and Katie stirred. The little girl sat up, "Mama," she looked at Jo with wide glassy eyes.

Jo reached out for her and immediately noticed her flushed face. "Oh no, not again," she muttered feeling the girl's hot forehead. She rummaged through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom moving bottles of cologne and aftershave, cans of shaving cream and sticks of deodorant, scattering condoms across the counter, "Of course he doesn't have a thermometer; he doesn't have dishes or furniture," she rolled her eyes.

Leaving the mess, she carried Katie downstairs. "Alex, Alex," she nudged him with her foot. He shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake up. "Alex! Dammit! Don't make me steal your car, because I will." She raised her voice, desperate to wake him up.

Slowly her words worked their way into his sleep fogged mind. He rubbed his face, scratched his head, and slowly blinked his eyes open. He had an 'Oh shit' moment when he saw Jo standing before him with Katie clutched to her chest. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could form the words his mind cleared from the haze of sleep and he remembered the night before. How one movie turned into two and then three, and the same happened with the beers. And when it was time to take Jo home they were both too buzzed to drive. Although, he couldn't deny the feeling that passed through him at seeing her standing there wearing his clothes. He sat up and concentrated on what she was saying to him.

"She has a fever again. It's been two weeks, and she has a fever again. I don't know how high because you don't have a thermometer. And, and you don't have plates or cups or, or furniture. Gah, Alex who lives like this?" her voice was laced with tears and she was rambling like he had come to learn she always did when she was scared or anxious.

"Jo, calm down," he commanded gently. He stood up and looked Katie over feeling her warm skin. "Get your things together; we're taking her to the hospital, and I'm going to find answers."

They swung by Jo's apartment so she could change and pack a bag for her and Katie and then went to the hospital. Alex had Katie directly admitted into a room, bypassing the ER. He ordered a full work up on the girl. He was determined to find out what was causing Katie's fevers.

Alex wandered down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat while he waited for Katie's test results to come back. They had left in such a hurry he hadn't eaten anything. He approached the table Meredith and Cristina were sitting at to hear, "Evil Spawn was crashed out on the floor with some stuffed bear for a pillow, and in his room asleep in his bed were Hairball and Mini Hairball," Cristina gave Meredith a triumphant look before taking a big bite of her apple. "I told you 'grown up' Alex was a fluke and he would be back to sleeping his way through the hospital before we knew it."

"No, I don't think so," Meredith argued, sticking up for her friend.

"I saw what I saw," Cristina countered, "I just can't figure out why the mini was there."

Alex slammed his tray down on the table and glared at Cristina as he sat down. "We watched movies, it got late, so she stayed over. In my bed while I slept downstairs. It was nothing," he ground out through clenched teeth.

"Hmm, too bad. Maybe it should have been something; you're awfully tense," Yang cackled patting him on the shoulder as she walked away.

"Don't listen to her Alex," Meredith said.

"I don't. Ever." Meredith laughed as she got up from the table.

Alex spent the afternoon researching a cause for Katie's fevers. Her test results all came back normal again with the exception of an inflammatory response that they already knew she was having. Finally, he stumbled upon something. It could fit without the symptoms. Katie's only symptom was the fever, but what if the other symptoms just weren't manifesting themselves in her.

He learned all he could about the syndrome, and then he called Dr. Robbins, "Arizona, I know you're not back to work yet, but I've got this case I wanted to go over with you. What do you know about PFAPA?"

When he was convinced of his diagnosis, Alex entered Katie's room. Jo was pacing the floor frustrated. She had piles of books and journals strewn around the room. "Put the books away, Jo," Alex instructed.

"I'm a doctor; how do I not know what's wrong with my own kid?" she asked her voice cracking.

He walked over to her reaching for her arm and stopping her movement. He looked into her eyes, "You're a great doctor, but you're her mother. Your mommy instincts or hormones or whatever kick in and overshadow your doctor instincts, besides we were all stumped. She has doctors; she's got me and now Robbins. She needs you to be her mother."

Jo took a shaky breath, "Wait, were, you said we were stumped. Does that mean..?"

"I figured it out," he confirmed.

"And you called Dr. Robbins? It's bad isn't it?" she started to break down.

"Shh, no, no, it's not bad," he soothed rubbing her back. "Jo, pull it together so you can listen to me." She sniffled a couple of times and wiped her eyes then nodded for him to continue. He led her to the bed and sat her down next to her daughter. "Katie has PFAPA syndrome, periodic fevers with aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and adenitis. It's a periodic fever syndrome that typically manifests between ages 2 and 5 and is characterized by febrile episodes lasting 3 to 6 days, sore throat, ulcers in the mouth, and swollen lymph nodes," he held up his hand to stop Jo's argument, "I know she doesn't have any of the other symptoms yet, but I think this is what it is, and so does Robbins. That's why I called her. The fevers typically recur every 28 days, unless treated with steroids. After steroids the fever usually returns sooner, just like we have seen Katie's do."

Jo took in everything he said and let it sink in, mulling it over in her brain, "So what do we do?" she asked.

"Well, most kids tend to outgrow the syndrome with no long term problems, but that can be years. We can continue to treat the fevers with corticosteroids. Cimetidine interrupts fever attacks in about a quarter of kids. The other thing they have found recently, and there is no good explanation for it, is performing a tonsillectomy. They are still doing research on it, but it appears to be showing a marked improvement in many children," Alex explained the options.

Jo nodded, "How did she get this? I mean, what causes it?"

"They're not really sure," he answered.

"So, what do you suggest?" she asked. She felt all alone with this decision about her child's health looming in front of her.

"You know I can't make this decision for you," Alex said with compassion.

"I know."

"You've got time, Jo. We can give her steroids now to bring the fever down. You can think about it," he offered.

"No," she stopped him before he left the room. "I mean yes, go ahead and give her the steroid. But I know what I want. I want you to do the tonsillectomy. I just want her better. I don't want to keep doing this every few weeks for who knows how long."

He nodded, "Alright, I'll get it scheduled. It'll probably be first thing tomorrow morning." He turned to leave and then stopped in the doorway, "For the record, I think you made the right choice."

She gave him a brief smile of thanks before he walked away. She snatched up a tablet she had borrowed from the nurses station and did some research of her own. It became clear to her that if Katie had had any other symptoms it would have made it much easier to diagnose. As it was, she was impressed Alex hadn't dismissed PFAPA syndrome and once again just sent her home with no answers. She felt confident in his diagnosis.

Alex stopped by to see Katie and Jo before he left for the night. He watched as Jo read Katie a bedtime story, rocked her to sleep, and tucked her in. She gave a small wave when she looked up and caught him staring at them, "Hey."

"Hey," he said quietly slipping into the room, "How's she doing?"

"Good," Jo smiled down at her daughter.

"And you? How are you doing?"

She chuckled, "I'm a nervous wreck. That's my baby you're gonna have on your table tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know, good thing you've got the best working on her," he said with a cocky smirk.

"That's the only thing holding me together," she responded seriously. "It's a simple, routine surgery, until it's your kid, ya know."

"She'll do great," he comforted putting a gentle hand on Jo's shoulder. They stayed in companionable silence for a bit. "You're amazing, Jo. How did you do it? How _do_ you do it? Taking care of her, getting through school, working, making every damn decision by yourself. It must be hard."

Jo blew out a breath, "I didn't.. don't, have a choice. I just get up every day and face what's handed to me. I can't look too far ahead or I will drown. It is hard, but it's worth it. She's a great kid and I wouldn't change my life right now for anything."

Alex shook his head, admiration shining in his eyes, "We need more parents like you." He stood up to go, "I better get outta here. Big surgery in the morning."

He ran into Meredith as he was leaving. "Hey, you're still here? I thought it was your day off," she said falling into step with him.

"Yeah I'm taking off; just wanted to check on Jo and Katie."

Meredith raised an eyebrow at him, "Just what exactly _are_ you doing with that intern?" she asked.

"I'm being her friend," he rolled his eyes.

"Is that all?" she asked doubt evident in her voice, "She's got a kid."

"Dude, really? Don't you think I know that? I'm taking care of her kid."

"I'm just saying… Be careful, Alex."

"We're friends, Mer, but you know what? So what if I do want to be more. We've got a connection; we just fit. There's something there, Mer, a spark. So... so what if I do decide to explore it? It's been a long time since I've met a girl I wanted to actually get to know not just get in the sack. Would that be such a bad thing?" Alex ranted.

"No, Alex, no it wouldn't. It would be great. I want to see you happy with someone, but I just don't want to see you get hurt again," she pulled him into a side hug before saying goodnight and jogging to her car.


	8. Why Him?

**Why Him?**

Alex stood by the operating table looking down into Katie's eyes, his hand laid gently over hers, "Okay Katydid, you're gonna go to sleep for a little bit, just a short little nap," he held his hand up with his thumb and index finger pinched close together indicating a short amount of time, "and when you wake up, you're gonna feel all better…"

"Dr. Awex?" her tiny voice interrupted him.

"Yeah?"

"I don't feel yucky…" she told him, confused.

He chuckled quietly and squeezed her hand, "I know you don't, but we're gonna make it so you don't feel yucky again, and so you don't have to come back to the hospital and get poked with needles anymore. Does that sound good?"

Her eyes lit up and she nodded big, "Uh huh. I not yike pokies."

"Me neither," he agreed with a conspiratorial whisper. "We'll make you all better," he promised, "just close your eyes… Good girl." When she had closed her eyes and relaxed, he went to scrub in. A tonsillectomy was a quick simple surgery, one Alex would usually pass off to a resident, but not this time, not Katie.

Jo paced the waiting room floor nervously wringing her hands. She knew it was a minor, basic surgery her daughter was undergoing, Alex could probably do it in his sleep, but that didn't change the fact that it was her baby lying on that table.

Jo sat down in one of the cushioned chairs, then immediately popped back up. She didn't know what to do with herself. "Hey," Callie called out as she approached. Jo blew out a sigh of relief and gave her a small grateful smile reaching out for the coffee she offered. "She's fine, Jo," the older doctor encouraged, "She's in good hands."

"I know, it's just…"

"I know," Callie comforted squeezing her shoulder in a gesture of support, "that's your baby." Jo nodded. "You need a distraction," she sat down and patted the empty chair next to her. The worried mother finally sat down, twisting her coffee cup around and around in her hands and chewing on her lip. Callie looked at her friend with compassion. She sat with her quietly offering moral support. The waiting room was mostly empty and they could hear the minutes tick away on the big clock hanging on the wall.

Alex finished Katie's tonsillectomy and double checked for bleeders, not seeing any, he stepped back from the table and removed his gown. The surgery had gone perfectly. He washed his hands and left the OR suite to find Jo, removing his scrub cap as he walked. He saw her sitting with Dr. Torres and slowed his approach when he heard his name. "So, what is going on between you and Karev?" the orthopedist asked eyebrows wiggling.

"What d'ya mean?" she shrugged.

"Oh come on," Callie laughed rolling her eyes. "I heard Yang talking. You spent the night with him?"

The younger woman shook her head, "It's not like that," she insisted, "we're friends, that's it. We watch 'bro' movies together. We drank beer and watched movies. Yes, I slept at his house, but I did not sleep," she widened her eyes, "with him," she shut Torres down.

Callie held her hands up defensively, "Okay, okay, I'm just saying, you did spend _all_ night with the guy."

"We're friends. Nothing more," Jo maintained.

Sighing and shaking his head discouraged, Alex shuffled forward to do what he had come to do. Clearing his throat he stepped in front of Jo. She hopped up out of her chair, "How is she?" she asked tears lining her eyes.

"She did great; the surgery went smoothly, textbook," he confirmed with a brief smile at the look of relief that flooded Jo's face. "She's in recovery now. You can come see her." He escorted Jo to the recovery room. Katie was just waking up when they got to her.

Jo leaned over the girl and gave her a tight hug and kissed her forehead, "Hi baby, I'm here. Mommy's here." She held Katie's hand and sat down on the bed beside her.

"Hey there, did you have a good nap?" Alex asked his patient. Her eyes fluttered over to him and she gave him a weak smile. "Your throat, right here," he touched his own throat, "is gonna hurt for a couple of days," he scrunched his face up, "sorry about that, but you know what that means?" She shook her head. "That means you get to eat lots and lots of ice cream," he made his eyes big and she grinned. "Do you like ice cream?" She nodded her head excitedly. "Good. You rest a little bit more and I'll come check on you later okay, Katydid?" She waved goodbye to him as her eyelids once again drooped shut.

Alex made his rounds again a few hours later, and he had Katie's discharge papers with him. He knocked on her door and stepped in to find her and Jo curled up in bed watching a Disney movie on Jo's laptop. Jo paused the movie and looked up at him. "Hey, you ready to take her home?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Jo agreed.

"I've got her papers right here. This isn't a 100% sure fix for the PFAPA," he reminded her, "but I really hope it works for her."

"Yeah, me too," she sighed as she signed Katie out of the hospital.

Jo took Katie home, and they spent the rest of the day in pajamas in bed watching cartoons. The next day passed in much the same way. That evening there was a soft knock on the door. "Who's that?" Jo asked the little girl in her lap. She sat Katie down on the cushion beside her and got up. She pulled the door open expecting to see Callie. "Oh Alex, hi," she exclaimed in surprise.

"Hi," he waved sheepishly, "I just came over to check on Katie; I hope that's okay?"

"Umm yeah, of course, come in. We were getting ready to have some ice cream. Would you like to join us?" she asked stepping back to let him in.

"Sure, okay," he nodded looking around. The only other time he had been to Jo's apartment was when they came to grab stuff before heading to the hospital. They had been in a hurry, and he hadn't really taken it all in. "How is she?" he asked nudging his head toward the little girl on the couch.

"Good," Jo answered with a smile. "Hey Katie, look who's here," she said as she passed through the living room to get to the kitchen.

Katie sat up on her knees and peered over the back of the couch. Her eyes lit up and she grinned around the thumb in her mouth, "Dr. Awex!"

"Hey, Katydid, how are ya? Is your throat owie?" She nodded with a pitiful look on her face. "Aw, I'm sorry, kiddo," Alex sympathized.

Jo returned to the room with three bowls of chocolate ice cream. They ate quietly while yet another Disney movie played. Katie was settled into the middle of the couch between Jo and Alex, but as the movie wore on and the adults easily talked about any number of random topics Katie inched ever so closer to Alex until before they knew it she was climbing up into his lap. Jo widened her eyes in horror, "Oh my gosh! Alex, I'm so sorry. I don't know what she is doing. Here you can hand her to me," she held out her arms.

He shook his head, "No, Jo, it's fine, really." He smiled down at the girl snuggled into his chest with her thumb in her mouth eyelids getting heavy.

"Are you sure?" the mother asked still embarrassed at her daughter's brashness.

He chuckled, "Yeah, I'm sure. She's fine."

The movie ended and Katie was fast asleep. Alex stood up effortlessly lifting her in his arms. He looked at Jo questioning, "Where..?" She showed him to their room, and he laid Katie down tucking the blanket up around her.

They went back out to the living room, Jo pulling the bedroom door closed behind them. "She really loves you," she observed once they were seated again.

A fleeting smile crossed Alex's face, "She's a pretty special kid."

"I think so," Jo agreed.

Alex knew he should probably go, but he was reluctant to leave. Jo flipped through the tv channels landing on an episode of Friends. She glanced at Alex and said, "I don't have any beer, but I can get you some water or juice."

Smiling inside at the invitation he shook his head, "That's alright, I'm okay." Alex kicked off his shoes to get more comfortable as they settled in.

During a commercial break, Jo suddenly asked out of the blue, "When do you think I can bring her back to daycare?"

He shrugged eyes still trained on the tv, "I'd give it another four or five days to be safe."

She groaned, "Four or five days? I can't miss that much work." He looked over noticing the distress coloring her features. "Callie gave me the names of some sitters she uses, but I don't know them, Katie doesn't know them…" she blew out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm off tomorrow; I could keep her," Alex offered sincerely.

Jo stopped short, turning surprised eyes to meet his, "You would do that for me? You would give up your day off to watch my kid?"

"Well, yeah," he answered simply.

"Oh Alex! You're a lifesaver," she launched herself into his arms hugging him tightly.

The next morning, Alex showed up at Jo's apartment bright and early ready to spend the day with Katie. "She's still sleeping," Jo whispered to him as she made her way to the door. "There's food in the kitchen; just call me if you have any problems, and Alex," he glanced over at her, "thanks again for doing this."

The day went off without a hitch and Jo found Katie and Alex sitting together in the one armchair in the room reading a book when she got home. She walked over and lifted Katie into her arms kissing her cheek, "I missed you today, baby." Katie snuggled into her mommy's neck and stuck her thumb in her mouth. "Did you have fun with Dr. Alex today?"

"Uh huh," the girl nodded.

"There's some mac and cheese on the stove," Alex said slipping his shoes on, "We already ate. Someone couldn't wait," he said with a wink to Katie.

"Thanks, Alex."

"Anytime, and I mean that," he ruffled Katie's hair, "Night Katydid." Jo watched as he let himself out of the apartment.

Over the next few days, Katie stayed with Callie, Arizona, and Sofia twice, Alex again, and Jo stayed home with her on her day off. Finally, after Alex stayed with her the second time he declared her healed enough to return to daycare, much to Jo's relief. She didn't know how much more she could impose on her friends even though they insisted it was no trouble at all.

Her first day back Jo dropped Katie off at daycare and then went to change into her scrubs. The intern locker room was unusually empty. She checked her watch, but she wasn't running late. Shaking her head she hurried to get ready and left the room in search of the others. She found them all watching an intense ping pong match between Shane and Dr. Shepherd. She sidled up next to Alex and asked, "What's going on?"

He glanced at her and then quickly cut his eyes back to the game, "Shepherd's about to wipe the floor with your buddy there."

"Oh yeah?" she asked skeptically, "500 bucks says Shane takes it."

He looked at her incredulously, "There's no way. Shepherd's got it in the bag."

"Double or nothin'," she retorted cockily, hand out to shake on it.

"You don't have a thousand bucks to hand over to me," he scoffed.

"Then I guess Shane better win," she dropped her voice, "Unless you're scared."

He narrowed his eyes at her and shook her hand then, banging on the glass window, "Come on Shepherd."

The game took a turn, and Jo was delighted when Shane did in fact win. She followed Alex to the ATM gloating the whole way. She stood by with hand outstretched while he punched the buttons on the keypad withdrawing 1000 dollars. "Here," he smacked the money into her hand.

"Thanks," she stuffed the wadded up bills into the pocket of her lab coat and started to move past him before stopping and grabbing his shoulder leaned in and whispered, "You should know, I never make a bet I won't win," and with that she skipped away.

That night after work, Jo covered Alex's eyes and led him into his living room. "Ta da!" she exclaimed dropping her hands.

"What is this?" he asked confused.

"It's a couch. I bought it with the money I won," she explained proudly.

"Why?" he asked again still confused.

"Because I'm not hanging out on your living room floor anymore. Just come sit, enjoy it," she rolled her eyes sitting at one end of the couch and slipping her shoes off tucking her feet up under her.

"Fine," he sat down at the other end running his hands over the soft fabric. "It is a nice couch, but…"

"Just shut up and drink," she commanded pointing to the six pack of beer on the seat between them.

Alex grabbed a bottle and opened it taking a long swig. He studied Jo out of the corner of his eye. He didn't know quite what to make of this; first she insisted to Torres that they're just friends, then she went out bought him beer and a couch and arranged to spend time alone with him. He shook his head giving up and resolving to just enjoy the time with his friend.

Several days later Jo and Callie were eating lunch in the cafeteria with their daughters. The conversation once again rolled around to Jo's love life, or really lack thereof. Jo shook her head and stabbed a piece of lettuce, "I always go for the wrong guy. I fall too hard too fast. I can't do it anymore. I can't afford to, not with her," she nudged her head towards the little girl that had fallen asleep in her lap. "Maybe I just need to take a break. It's just me and Katie; we don't need anyone else, especially not a man," she finished on a frustrated sigh poking her fork into her mouth.

"Wait," Callie clarified, "haven't you been on a break? How many men have you dated since Katie's father?" she asked pointedly.

Jo rolled her eyes, "Well… None."

"It's been what?" she approximated, "Three years now? You're in a different place in your life, in a whole new city. There are good men out there Jo. But you're not going to find them unless you put yourself out there. Or ya know, you could switch teams," she cackled, "It worked for me." Jo coughed, choking on the drink she had just taken. Catching her breath and wiping her eyes Jo started to respond, but was cut off when Callie lowered her voice and said, "Or you might just change your tune, because there is one fine piece of man giving you the eye."

Jo followed Callie's gaze and saw a handsome doctor in pink scrubs looking her way. She decided to take her friend's advice and put herself out there, so she smiled at him. That was all the encouragement he needed. He paid for his meal and headed towards her table. Quickly running a hand through her hair and wiping her mouth for any stray crumbs she murmured to Callie, "He is hot, isn't he?"

"Mmhmm," the older doctor agreed standing up and collecting her trash. "See you later," she called with a wink as she led Sofia away.

"Uh hi, Dr. Wilson, isn't it?" the man asked as he set his tray down.

Jo looked up and got lost in the depths of his dark eyes. He smiled and cleared his throat. "Oh.. Uh.. Yeah, Wilson.. Uh Jo Wilson," she returned his smile.

"Well, Jo Wilson, do you mind if I have a seat?" he asked.

"Not at all. I'd enjoy the company, but first you gotta tell me your name," she responded lowering her lashes flirtatiously.

He chuckled, only then realizing he hadn't introduced himself, "Jason Myers," he held his hand out. Jo placed her small soft hand in his and shook. "And who is this?" he asked gesturing to the girl still sleeping in her lap.

"She's my daughter, Katie." The two fell into easy conversation until Jo's pager sounded. "I've got to go, but this was... nice," she said before lifting Katie up and hurrying her back to the daycare.

Alex watched the whole exchange from the table he shared with Meredith and Cristina across the room. "Who's that guy?" he wondered as he angrily bit into his sandwich.

"Who?" Cristina asked turning to see who he was glaring at. "Oh," she said disappointed, "Who cares?"

"Alex does," Meredith said in a teasing voice, "Because _his_ intern is eating with him."

"She's not _my_ intern, and I don't care," he grumbled.

"Ohh," Cristina said understanding dawning, "Well, he's on the vagina squad; how much competition can he be?" she shrugged offering her own version of support.

The next day, Jason found Jo at the nurses station on the pediatric floor. She looked up and smiled as he approached. When he stood in front of her, he pulled a single red rose from behind his back handing it to her, "Jason, it's beautiful," she gasped putting the flower up to her nose.

"Just like you," he said. The nurses behind the desk "awed" and Alex, who was walking by, rolled his eyes. "And I got this for Katie," he gave her a small stuffed kitten. The nurses again "awed" and gave Jo warm smiles.

When Jo had a short break, she went to the daycare to see Katie. She showed her the kitten, and the little girl clapped happily taking the toy. "Guess who that's from," Jo said as Katie looked it over.

"Dr. Awex," the little one said with confidence.

"No, it's from Mommy's new friend, Jason. Do you wanna see Jason sometime?" she asked her daughter.

"No," she answered dropping the kitten, "I see Dr. Awex."

"Yeah, we'll see Dr. Alex again pretty soon," Jo assured her giving the kitten back to her, but Katie wasn't interested in the toy.

Jason kept making a point to see Jo at work, and kept wooing her with gifts and charm. Jo talked to Katie about Jason and he joined them for lunch again. Katie was awake during lunch, but kept her face buried in Jo's shoulder and wouldn't interact with Jason. "I don't know what's wrong with her," Jo told him, "She's not usually shy."

"It's alright, she'll come around and warm up to me," he said with an understanding smile. They finished lunch and were getting ready to part ways, "Are you busy tonight?" he asked. Jo shook her head with a hint of a smile. "Do you wanna go out with me? Grab dinner and a movie or something maybe?"

"Yeah, I'd like that," she said standing up on her tiptoes and placing a quick peck on his cheek.

Callie was picking Sofia up when Jo went to get Katie from daycare after work, "So, I saw you and Jason at lunch," she said with raised eyebrows, "Heard you're going out tonight."

"Callie Torres, were you eavesdropping on my lunch?" Jo asked coyly.

"Mmhmm," the other woman answered unapologetically.

Jo grinned, "Yeah we're going out."

"All right, Wilson. Way to go," she cheered. "What are you doing with Katie? Do you want me to watch her?"

"Um yeah, that would be great; do you mind?"

"Of course not. She's a good kid and the girls will have fun."

Jo was headed to the lobby when Alex called her name. She stopped and turned to him waiting for him to catch up to her. "Hey, do you and Katie wanna come over tonight?"

"We can't tonight," she said regretfully, "I actually… I have a date," she explained waving at Jason as he turned down the hallway they were standing in. "Another time?"

"Yeah.. Another time," he agreed watching her jog down the hall to meet Jason. He turned and stalked back down the hall to the attendings lounge. "I can't believe she's going out with him," he muttered under his breath, "Why him?"

He banged into the lounge making Meredith's and Cristina's heads snap up. "What's wrong with you?" Meredith asked.

"Nothing," he growled out.

"It's not nothing, Evil Spawn; you look like someone just ran over your puppy," Cristina argued.

"Hmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Jo has a date tonight," Callie chimed in from her locker.

"Alex, I'm sorry," Meredith said placing a sympathetic hand on his arm.

He shook her off, "No reason to be sorry. There's nothing wrong. We're friends, just friends. Why would I care if she goes on a date with some douche." He slammed his locker shut and stomped out of the lounge the door slamming behind him. Just friends. He was an idiot. All she had ever wanted to be was his friend. What was wrong with him? What was he thinking? He wouldn't admit even to himself he was falling for her, but he vowed to himself he was going to get over her.


	9. Too Good, Too Right

**Too Good, Too Right**

Jo slid Katie's lidded kiddie cup towards her, "Here baby, do you want a drink?"

"No!" the two and a half year old pouted. She and Jo were out with Jason at the local pizzeria. She turned sideways in the booth so her back was to her mother. She had already refused to sit in the booster seat the waitress had brought to them. She stared at the wall ignoring both her mom and the yucky man across the table from her mom. She didn't like him, even though her mommy said he was a nice guy. She didn't care if he brought her toys and candy, she didn't like him; he didn't really like her anyway; he just liked her mommy.

"Hey sweetheart," Jo ran her fingers through the girl's hair, "pizza's almost here. Turn around so you can eat." Jo didn't know what to make of her daughter's behavior; she never acted out like that. When Katie continued to ignore her, Jo sighed and gave up, turning her attention back to her date. Embarrassed she shrugged, "I don't know what's gotten into her."

Jason gave her a tight lipped smile, "It's fine; she's probably just tired or something." He swiftly changed the subject telling an anecdote of a birth he had attended that day.

Jo chuckled politely and shook her head, "Surgery is so much more exhilarating," her eyes lit up.

"Yeah, yeah," he scoffed, "I do surgery to you know?"

"Yeah, that's what you keep saying," she teased with a wink.

They fell silent as the waitress placed their pizza on the table between them with a stack of plates. "Can I get you anything else?" the perky teen asked.

They both shook their heads, "No, we're good," Jason replied. "Anyway, I have a c-section tomorrow morning; you should scrub in, see the miracle of bringing new life into the world."

Jo smirked, "I've experienced that already, up close and personal," her eyes flitted pointedly to her daughter in the seat beside her. "Here Katie, eat your pizza," she put a slice on a plate, made sure it was cooled enough, and put it in front of Katie.

Jason flashed Jo a charming smile, "Okay, true, but don't you want to watch me perform a surgery. You can marvel at my flawless technique."

Jo opened her mouth to answer, but before a sound could escape Katie pushed her plate across the table away from her and slid down out of the booth under the table. Jo's eyes widened, "I am so sorry," she apologized for the girl's actions. "Katie Addelyn," she hissed glaring under the table, "you get up here right this minute." She reached down gently grasping her daughter's arm and carefully pulling her back up onto the seat making sure not to bump her head. "You will sit here, and you will eat your pizza," she demanded leaving no room for argument.

"I not hungry. I not wanna eat," Katie cried loudly poking her bottom lip out.

"Jo," Jason said glancing around, "Everyone is staring. Can't you get her under control?"

She snapped her eyes up at him eyebrows raised, "Don't you think I'm trying? Welcome to life with a toddler," she said sarcastically, "They don't call them the terrible twos for nothing." She pulled Katie up into her lap and laid the girl's head on her shoulder, "Shh, baby, it's okay, you don't have to eat right now. Can Mommy and Jason finish?" The girl stuck her thumb in her mouth and continued to quietly pout as her mom held her.

The adults finished their meal with only a few words passing between them. Jo was annoyed that Jason wasn't more understanding, and Jason was annoyed that their date had been interrupted; he would never let on to Jo, but he hadn't wanted the rugrat to tag along anyway. While Jason paid the bill, Jo boxed up the leftover pizza; Katie would be hungry later. "I think it would be best to call it a night," Jo said as they walked to the car in the moonlight, "I'll just take you home." She bent into the backseat of her car to buckle Katie into her car seat so she wasn't able to hear him grumbling under his breath.

He reached over for her hand as she navigated the dark streets, "It's a shame we have to end the evening early; I've really enjoyed being with you," he flirted rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.

She smiled genuinely, glancing at him quickly before turning her eyes back to the road, "Yeah, me too. Maybe I will take you up on that c-section tomorrow after all." She wasn't sure how to take him all the time. One minute he was charming and sweet and the next he was frustrated and annoyed by Katie. She chalked it up to him not having experience with kids. He would learn.

She pulled into a parking spot in front of his apartment building and unbuckled turning in her seat toward him. "You could come in if you want," he offered, "it's a two bedroom; we could lay Katie down in the guest room, find a movie," he shrugged feigning innocence, "and, I don't know, see where the night goes," he looked down sheepishly.

"I can't. I need to get her home. I'm just… I'm not ready," she stumbled over her words. She met his eyes seeing disappointment flash in the depths.

Belying what she had just seen, he smoothly said, "Nah, I get it." He brought his hand up to caress her cheek and leaned in capturing her lips with his. "Now do you wanna come in?" He quirked a brow and asked cockily when they broke apart to breathe.

She bit her bottom lip and shifted her gaze down to her lap sighing, "Jason I can't…"

"Jo, I'm kidding," he played it off as a joke. He tilted her chin up and gave her a final peck on the lips, "I'll see you tomorrow." He got out and jogged towards the door stopping once and turning back to her lifting his hand in a wave. She gave a tiny wave and smile back. He finished making his way to his door digging his keys out of his pocket as he went. He unlocked the door, but before he went in he slammed his fist into the wall, "Dammit!" That kid was always going to be an obstacle to him.

Jo drove home replaying her date. She came to the conclusion that Jason really was just uncomfortable around Katie. She figured he hadn't been around kids much. But he really was so sweet and charming. It had been a long time since she had dated; she missed having a man look at her the way Jason did and missed having a man want to spend time with her and try to impress her and win her affections. Alex's face popped into her mind as she shut the car off. She pushed it away; he was just a friend, that's all he wanted, all she wanted. She convinced herself as she unbuckled Katie and carried her into their apartment.

She sat the girl down on the couch and knelt down eye level in front of her, "Katie, what was that back there at the restaurant? You don't act like that. You know better than to throw a fit and hide under the table. What's the matter?" For a long time Katie didn't answer. She sucked her thumb and played with the hem of her shirt. "Katie? You can tell me. I won't be mad," the mother could tell something was bothering her daughter and she was no longer angry with her, now she was worried.

"I not yike Jason," Katie finally said, "I not wanna eat pizza wiff him."

"Oh honey," Jo sighed, "is that it? Well, Jason likes you, a lot. I think if you'd give him a chance you'd like him too," she tried to reason with her knowing it was silly. The girl was not even three yet; she probably had no idea what Jo was saying.

"Him yikes Mommy not Katie," she corrected popping her thumb back in her mouth.

"Oh no, Sweetie. He likes you too. You just have to get used to each other," Jo reassured her daughter, in the back of her mind trying to reassure herself as well, even though she didn't recognize that fact.

"I hungy. I want pizza now," she looked wide eyed up at her mommy.

Jo sighed giving up, "Okay," she reheated the pizza and gave a slice to Katie with a juice box. After she ate, Jo gave Katie a bath and then read her a bedtime story. The little girl fell asleep curled into her mother's side. Jo tossed the book to the floor and turned the lamp off. She combed her fingers through Katie's soft curls as she closed her eyes. Her mind raced with Katie's observation, but she shook it off. Jason was kind to Katie and always asked about her. Jo was sure he liked the girl; he just needed time to adjust to having a child around.

The next day Jo arranged it with Dr. Hunt to be able to scrub in with Jason on his surgery. "Good morning," he brushed a brief kiss on her lips when they met in the scrub room. "Are you ready to have your world rocked?"

"By a c-section?" she laughed, "Do you know what I see everyday?" she shook her head and began to scrub. The surgery was quick and Jo smiled and even teared up a bit when the baby took his first breath and let out a loud cry, but it still wasn't as good as a 'real' surgery. Give her a trauma or ortho or heck even a brain surgery any day.

"Okay, it was good, right?" Jason said as they washed in the scrub room after surgery. "I was good, right?"

Jo giggled, "Your were good," she relented, "but the surgery, eh, it was just okay." He laughed and they shared a kiss. "So, umm, I can see if Callie can watch Katie for a while tonight if you want a do over on our date," Jo offered shyly.

"Mmm, as good as that sounds, I can't. I'm on call tonight," Jason said with regret. They stopped at the nurses station and he picked up a tablet. "I will take a rain check though," he flashed his charming smile.

"It's a deal," she grinned jogging off to resume her day on Dr. Hunt's service.

Alex rolled his eyes and sighed tossing his half eaten sandwich on his tray. "What's your problem?" Cristina snarked.

He ignored her until she poked him in the side forcing an answer, "That," he snarled glaring at a table across the cafeteria where Jo and her pink scrub wearing, OB/GYN resident, boyfriend sat laughing and talking. "What does she see in that jerk anyway?"

"Well, did you ever tell her how you feel?"

Ignoring Mer, Alex continued, "I don't get it. We hang out, we have fun, we… we get each other, and her kid freaking loves me… So why is she with him?"

"Does she know.." Meredith clamped her mouth shut when Alex turned his glare on her. She held up her hands, "Don't bite my head off; I'm just saying."

"You know what you need?" Cristina chimed in, "You need to come to Joe's with us tonight, find a girl…" she let the sentence hang wiggling her eyebrows.

"No," Meredith argued, "He's not a man whore anymore. He needs to tell Jo how he feels."

"He needs to get over Hairball," Cristina kept on, "Man whore Alex I can deal with, but this...this sad heartbroken Alex," she waved her hand in his direction a look of distaste on her face, "It's depressing; he makes me wanna slit my wrist. I can't take it, moping around all day; it's gross."

"Cristina," Meredith hissed.

The other surgeon shrugged, "What? It's true."

Jo held Katie's hand as they left the hospital; her shift was over and she was ready to call it a day. They had just made it to the lobby when Jo heard her name. She turned and saw Jason jogging towards her, "Hey," she greeted.

"Come on, Mommy," Katie tugged on her hand, trying to pull her to the door.

"Just a minute, Katie."

"Hey, I wanted to catch you before you left," Jason said coming to a stop in front of Jo.

She smiled up at him, "I'm glad you did." She opened a nursery rhyme app on her phone and handed it to Katie sitting her in a chair beside where they were standing.

The two doctors talked for a few minutes with Katie becoming more and more restless. Then she saw Dr. Alex, "Mommy," she tapped her mother's leg, "I go see Dr. Awex."

"Okay just a minute, Sweetie," Jo brushed her hand down her daughter's hair. "I gotta go; she's getting restless," Jo told her boyfriend. "See ya tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see ya," he confirmed and leaned down brushing a lingering kiss on Jo's lips.

Alex was almost to the vending machine to grab a bag of chips when he felt a little hand grasp his scrub pants and tug on them. He looked down into Katie's big blue eyes. "Hey there, Katydid," he smiled at her squatting down to her level. He looked around, "Where's your mama?"

Katie made a face, "She kissy Jason."

Alex copied her disgusted face, "Yucky! You don't like that, huh?" She shook her head. "Does she know you're here with me?" Alex asked seriously.

"Uh huh. Hers says okay."

He glanced around again looking for Jo, "Alright," he said with uncertainty. He scooped the little girl up. Katie had never been one to wander off or disobey her mother as far as Alex had seen so he supposed it was fine. He bought her a candy bar and himself the chips and continued on to the cafeteria.

Jo pulled back from the kiss, "Goodnight, Jason." She looked down to the chair Katie was sitting in only to see her phone lying in the empty seat. Panic rose up within her threatening to choke her, "Wh-where's Katie?" She spun around quickly scanning the deserted lobby. "Jason!" she clutched at his arm, "Where's Katie? Where did she go?" She was starting to hyperventilate anxiety clawing at her.

He shrugged, "I didn't see anything, but I'm sure she's fine."

Jo looked at him incredulously, "She's two, and all alone in a huge hospital. How can she be fine?"

He took on a look of concern, "We'll find her, Jo." He rubbed calming circles on her back.

She jerked away, "Help me look for her," she screeched at him.

"Okay, okay," he backed away, "Maybe she went outside to wait for you; I'll go look." He went out the big glass sliding doors.

Jo ran off in the other direction wracking her brain for where the child may have gone. When she spun around to head back up the hall to the daycare, she bumped into Shane causing him to drop the apple he was about to take a bite of, "Hey, what's the rush?" he questioned checking his pager to see if he had missed a '911'.

"Katie is missing, she.. she wandered away, I got distracted for a minute, one minute and now.. now she's gone," Jo's voice broke, tears flooding her eyes.

The other intern smiled and shook his head, "Oh, is that all…"

Jo's eyes widened and filled with fury, "Is that.." she started shouting.

Shane held up his hands, "No, no, that's not what I meant," he attempted to calm the angry and scared mother, "I meant, she's not missing. I just saw her in the cafeteria with Dr. Karev."

His hand shot out and grabbed Jo's arm holding her up as her knees buckled under her and her hand flew to her mouth. Relief rushed through her, "Oh my God, thank you," she gasped squeezing her eyes shut. "Thank you," she gave Shane a shaky hug and moved away from him towards the cafeteria.

"Jo?" he stopped her, "Are you okay? Can you make it?"

She nodded and hurried off on still shaky legs. When she spotted her daughter, she ran to her lifting her off of Alex's lap and hugged her and hugged her, tears flowing freely down her face. "Mommy has an owie?" Katie asked concern shining in her eyes.

"No, Sweetie, Mommy doesn't have an owie. Mommy didn't know where you were. I was scared. You can't walk away from Mommy, Katie."

"You says okay," the little girl patted her mommy's cheek.

"When? When did I say okay. I did not tell you you could leave my side."

"Uh huh, I says I go see Dr. Awex and you says okay," Katie thought hard to remember what happened, but she was sure, she knew her mommy said okay and then she kissed that yucky Jason.

"Oh Sweetie, I'm just glad you're okay," Jo said seeing no point in arguing with the toddler. She turned angry eyes on Alex, "How could you not call me and tell me you had my kid?"

Alex's eyes widened, "Hey it's not my fault you're too goo goo eyed for what's his name to keep track of your daughter," he spat. "I asked her if you knew she was with me and she said yes," he defended.

"Oh yeah, I just let my two year old wander the halls of the hospital looking for you," she quipped sarcastically.

"Hey, it's a cheap babysitter so you can go screw your boyfriend," he shrugged coldly.

Jo gasped narrowing her eyes, "That was cruel Alex; leave me the hell alone."

"Fine!" he crumpled up his empty chip bag and tossed it in the trash stomping out of the cafeteria. He was hurt, and he was jealous, and he knew he was being a jerk, but he couldn't help it. He had to lash out and spread the hurt around. It was who he was, and no matter how much he had grown and changed that was always his defense.

He banged into the attendings lounge and stared Meredith and Cristina down, "Okay fine, let's go. Let's go to the bar," he accepted Cristina's invitation or solution or whatever it was she had offered at lunch.

Jo drove home with a heavy heart. She was torn up over her fight with Alex; she didn't want to lose his friendship. She didn't know what was going on, but he had been acting strange and distant ever since she started seeing Jason. She almost wondered if he was jealous, but that couldn't be. She was just a friend to him; he hadn't ever made a move indicating otherwise, had he? He never acted like he wanted more, did he? No, she shook her head, she didn't get guys like Alex. He was too good, too right. Guys like that didn't want her.


	10. I'm an Idiot

**I'm an Idiot**

Alex grunted a greeting when Meredith and Cristina joined him at the table for lunch. He kept his eyes down staring miserably at his tray. "What's with him?" Meredith asked side eyeing the grumpy man.

"He's wallowing in heartbreak and self-pity," Cristina smirked.

"I thought he was getting over that; I thought he was dating."

Alex heaved a sigh and rolled his eyes. They were talking about him like he wasn't sitting right there at the same table with them. "I'm not dating," he growled, "You didn't suggest dating. What you suggested was hooking up. I went to the bar, and I drank, and I left alone. I didn't so much as get a phone number." His two best friends stared back at him in shock. That wasn't like Alex to go out to the bar and leave alone. At least not like the old Alex, maybe he really had turned over a new leaf. "I'm not dating. I'm not… I'm not over it, over her," he mumbled. He had gone to Joe's after work and had ordered a drink; he scanned the room sizing up the women, but none of them piqued his interest, none of them were Jo.

Later that day, Meredith and Cristina sidled up to Alex as he leaned on the nurses station updating a chart. Meredith linked arms with him and pulled him away down the hall. "What is this? Where are we going?" he griped.

"Nothing, just going for a walk," Mer answered secretively biting back a smile.

The threesome stopped in the doorway of the ICU, and Meredith pointed to a pretty blonde nurse, "That's Danielle." Alex raised his eyebrows and gave her a questioning look. "She's single. And she's sweet and sarcastic…"

"And she could hold her own with your prickly attitude, Evil Spawn," Cristina chimed in.

Meredith snorted continuing, "And she's the best ICU nurse we have. I trust her with any of my patients."

Alex continued to stare at the Twisted Sisters wide eyed, "Yeah, so?"

"So… You should ask her on a date," Cristina replied matter of factly.

"You were right; we suggested hooking up before, bringing home some random girl, but what you need is to date. Find a nice girl," Meredith nudged her head towards Danielle, "and date her."

He shook his head. Hadn't he just told them he wasn't over Jo. Her face popped into his mind and then the picture of her and Jason together. He grimaced, "Fine, I'll ask her out," maybe that's what he needed to get Jo out of his head.

Jo had the day off, and she and Katie were spending the afternoon at the park. It was a rare sunny day in Seattle. The mother and daughter had slept in, then had lunch at Katie's favorite fast food place, and went to the park.

Jo was pushing Katie on the swing when a dark shadow fell over her. She turned her head and came face to face with Jason. "Hey," she said startled, "How did you know we were here?"

"Hey," he greeted giving Jo his most charming smile and leaning in for a kiss. Jo turned her head causing his lips to land on her cheek. He blew out a frustrated sigh.

"How did you find me?" she asked again.

"I was on my way over to your apartment when I saw your car, so I pulled in. I wanted to surprise you." Jo considered his explanation; the park was only a few blocks from where she lived and it was plausible that he passed it on the way to her apartment, but she drove a very generic white Chevy Malibu. Why would he assume the car he saw had been hers?

Katie was starting to squirm in the swing, "Hey baby girl, do you wanna go play in the sand?" Jo asked her slowing the swing to a stop. Katie nodded and hopped down running off to the sandbox. Jo and Jason followed behind her settling on a bench just outside of the sandbox. "So, you kinda disappeared last night," Jo accused not taking her eyes off Katie.

"Uh yeah, I uh got a page… 911," he defended glancing down to the ground and shifting in his seat.

"I found Katie, obviously; not that you bothered asking or checking up on her," accusation still laced heavily in her voice.

"Well, I knew she would be fine. I told you." He stretched his arm out on the back of the bench behind Jo letting his fingers trail down to rub her arm. It was all she could do to keep herself from flinching away from his touch. "But she's here now safe and sound. I don't want to talk about last night anymore. Let's talk about us," he changed the subject.

Jo took a deep breath; his flippant attitude towards Katie giving her all the ammunition she needed to solidify the decision she had been toying with, "Yes, let's do talk about us," she agreed. "We're just not working," she blurted out at the same time as he was speaking.

"We should move in together…"

Jo's eyes snapped over to look at him disbelief showing on her face. Just as quickly she turned her gaze back to her daughter, "I'm sorry, what?" she asked sure she had heard him wrong. They hadn't been dating that long; they were nowhere near ready to move in together.

"I said we should move in together," he spat out, "what do you mean 'we're not working'?"

"I mean us… this… It's not working. Not for me and not for Katie," she shook her head.

"Well maybe if you would give me the kind of time you give Dr. Karev," he said his name with a sneer, "and, oh I don't know, look at me when we are having a conversation," he grabbed her chin to turn her face to his, "we would 'work' out just fine."

She swatted his hand off her face and stood up taking a step away from him, "I have to keep my eye on Katie, and Alex…"

"Two seconds that's all I'm asking," he interrupted, "just give me two seconds of your attention."

"Anything can happen in two seconds with a two year old; you saw that last night."

He harrumphed and stood up closing the space between himself and his girlfriend, "I know we can be good together; we can make this work. You've just got to quit spending so much time with Karev."

Jo rolled her eyes, "Alex has nothing to do with us. He's not the problem. Besides, he hates me now. I won't be spending anymore of my time with him."

"There's no problem then," he stood in front of her brushing a wind blown strand of hair out of her face.

She stepped back, "The problem is you can't handle the fact that I have a daughter and that _she_ is my priority."

"That's not true, Jo," he started.

"Jason, don't," she held up her hand, "We're done." She stepped into the sandbox and picked Katie up carrying her to the car. She buckled her into her car seat and drove away never looking back.

Jason watched her go and swore under his breath. Nobody broke things off with him. When he set his mind on getting something, or someone, he didn't give up easily. He had been watching Jo for months, since the new interns had been introduced at the hospital. He had decided he would have her and that was long before he knew she had the little brat.

The next day at work, Alex watched as Jason approached Jo with a smile and all but dragged her into an empty room. He rolled his eyes and stalked off determined to get over her. He stepped on the elevator and punched the button for the ICU's floor. If he had stuck around, he would have seen Jo storm out of the room after pushing Jason aside and telling him in no uncertain terms they were over.

Jo gasped as she was pulled into an empty room. "What are you doing?" she seethed tearing her arm from Jason's grasp. She made a move for the door but he blocked her.

"Come on Jo, don't be like that," he turned on his most charming smile, "I just want to talk to you. We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," she said through clenched teeth finally seeing him for who he truly was, "I told you we are over." She shoved him out of the way and rushed out the door.

Meanwhile, Alex approached the ICU nurses station where Danielle was typing in a patient's chart. He casually leaned on the desk, and she looked up smiling as their eyes met, "Dr. Karev, are you lost? Peds is two floors up," she batted her eyelashes.

He responded with his infamous half smile, "Hmm, that it is. But I heard, from a friend, that the best nurses work down here, and I just had to see it for myself," he winked. She bit her bottom lip and held back a giggle. She had always secretly had a crush on the peds attending but never had a desire to work on the children's floor to get to know him better. Who was she kidding? What woman working there hadn't had a crush on him?

They chatted for a few more minutes until Alex was paged. "I gotta go, but I was thinking, do you wanna grab a bite to eat after work tonight?"

She grinned, "Yeah, that sounds great. I get off at seven."

"I'll meet you in the lobby," he called turning and heading to the elevator. Meredith was getting off, and she raised her eyebrows, "Well?" she asked. He nodded. She gave him a thumbs up as the doors slid shut.

Later, Jo watched as Alex sat on the bed beside one of his young patients. He was telling the kid a wild story as he drew blood. She stood in awe reminded of how good he was with Katie. Her daughter loved him and always asked about getting to see Dr. Alex. She had to make things right with the man.

"Alex," she called to him as he left the girl's room.

He narrowed his eyes and turned in her direction not making a move to close the distance between them. "I've got a consult in the pit, and you've got post-ops to round on," he said in a clipped tone. He turned and walked down the hall away from Jo.

"But Alex," she tried again moving towards him.

"Not now, Wilson," he spat and disappeared around the corner.

Callie walked up behind Jo as she was sitting staring out the big windows in the hallway outside the daycare. "Rough day?" she asked noting the sad tired look on the younger woman's face.

Jo sighed, "Yeah. I'm just trying to work up the energy to go in there and pick up my kid."

Callie blew her bangs out of her face, "I get that. Do the same thing myself some days." She made no move to leave Jo alone, instead, "Do you wanna go across the street? Have a drink?"

"Oh my gosh, yes. Yes, I really do," Jo lit up a little. They left the girls in daycare for a while longer and headed to Joe's.

They ordered their drinks and then found an empty table in the crowded bar. Jo glanced around until her eyes fell on Alex. He was a few tables over facing her, and he was sitting with a woman with long blonde hair. She felt a pang of disappointment and quickly looked away groaning. "What?" Callie asked looking over her shoulder. "Oh-h," she saw immediately what the problem was. She didn't say any more waiting for Jo to talk.

The younger doctor downed her drink, ordered another one, took a big swig of that one and then slammed the glass down. "I did it again. I picked the wrong guy. I always pick the wrong guy," she moaned taking another drink and chancing another glance at Alex. Their eyes met for a long beat and she almost thought she saw what? regret? desire? longing? in his eyes. He looked away turning his attention back to his date.

"You and Jason?" Callie broached.

"Jason's a jerk," she slammed back the rest of her drink. "I didn't see it; Katie did, but I didn't. I saw his charming smile and the way he looked at me, but I didn't see who he really is. That's my problem. I've never had a good man; I don't even know what to look for. I've had… and… I'm… I'm like damaged goods or something. I don't get the good guys." She let her gaze land on Alex again.

"You are a good person and a great mother and doctor. You deserve the best man, Jo. Don't sell yourself short. You deserve a good man and you will find one," Callie encouraged.

"I think it might be too late," Jo murmured quietly still watching Alex and his new girlfriend.

Callie followed her gaze. She reached across the table and squeezed the other woman's hand, "I feel like… I'm sorry. I pushed you towards Jason. I don't even know him and I just pushed you to him. I could see what was happening, and I didn't want you to get hurt. Alex has a reputation, and I didn't want you to be his next conquest."

"No Callie, it's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for. Jason is charming and he knows just what to say and do to make a woman fall for him. And I was craving attention from a man; it's been so long ya know," Jo argued. "And Alex, he's so much more than his reputation, and I saw that. I see who he is. I just didn't think he saw me as anything but a friend, but now I don't know. It almost seemed like he was jealous when I got with Jason. But why? He is good. He's so good and I'm just.. I'm me and I don't get the good guys," she finished on a sigh.

Callie shook her head ready to argue again that Jo did deserve a good man, but Jo continued her rant, "I'm an idiot, Callie. He is great and he loves my kid and he would do anything for us, and I pushed him away, and I'm an idiot. He's with her now and I'm here alone and an idiot. I think I might love him," she whispered as her feelings dawned on her.

Alex tried to pay attention to Danielle; he really tried to be into his date, but he couldn't keep his eyes off the table across the room and his mind off the woman occupying it. His eyes were drawn to Jo's, and every time they met he could see yearning in hers.

They were only halfway through their meal when Alex interrupted her, "I'm sorry Danielle, I can't do this. I'm not ready for this."

"I… Uh.." she stuttered confused.

"I'm really sorry, but there's this girl, and I like her, and I'm not over her, and I can't do this now. You don't deserve someone who isn't into it. So I just.. We can't do this now," he explained apologetically.

"Okay," she said wiping her mouth on her napkin and standing up slinging her purse over her shoulder. Alex stood with her and guided her out of the bar with his hand to her lower back.

"Ugh," Jo groaned and laid her head down on the table in front of her. "I'm gonna need another drink," she said as tears pooled in her eyes.

Alex got home and headed straight to his room. Cristina called out to him from her bed when he walked by, "How was the date, lover boy?"

He stopped in her doorway leaning on the doorjamb, "It was a disaster. I cut the night short. Jo was there and I just… I can't get her out of my mind. I can't date anyone else. I'm an idiot; I love her."


	11. He's Gone

**He's Gone**

Jo groaned and put a hand up to her face covering her eyes and forehead. She had never been happier to have a day off; she woke up with a headache and a heartache. She sat up slowly blinking her eyes open. She took a minute to get her bearings noting that her bed was littered with used Kleenex, empty hostess cupcake wrappers, and a cookie package. Her phone was still playing sad love songs. She turned her phone off and rolled her eyes. She hated being the stereotypical heartbroken girl but sometimes a woman just had to wallow. She forced herself out of bed and padded to the bathroom downing two aspirin with a glass of water. Next she went to the kitchen and fumbled around in the dimly lit room to pour herself a bowl of cereal. The only light was the little bit of sunlight breaking through a cloudy sky and piercing through the kitchen blinds. She glanced at the clock on her coffee pot. 11:23. She had slept most of the morning.

She finished her breakfast? Lunch? Brunch, she decided and stumbled back to bed. She knew Katie was fine; Dr. Torres had picked her up from daycare, along with her own daughter, after dropping Jo off at home following their evening at the bar. Her heart ached all over again remembering the night before, seeing Alex out with someone else… Leaving with someone else. Ugh, what was her problem? He had never been hers. They had never shared that kind of relationship, so why did she care so much? His face danced through her mind. His kind eyes and sarcastic smirk. Who was she kidding? She had fallen for him. They grew close as friends, and she had let herself feel more. Of course, she had been an idiot, and ignored it and threw herself into a relationship with that jerk, Jason. She groaned again; why did she have to make a mess of everything?

She sent a quick text message to Callie checking on Katie before she buried herself under her blankets once again. The older doctor had taken Katie back to her house for the night and brought her to work the next morning. Jo's phone chimed. Callie sent her a picture; Katie was safely at daycare happily playing with Sofia. Jo smiled. She couldn't wait to see her baby girl again, but first, she had to sleep off her pounding headache.

Alex, on the other hand, was not so grateful to have a day off. He woke up early with thoughts of Jo running through his mind. He could have used an intense, complicated surgery to distract him for hours… Not that he would wish that on any kid. He tossed and turned and slammed his pillow down over his head in an attempt to fall back asleep, but when he did, his dreams were invaded by his beautiful ex-friend, the very person he wanted to forget. Groaning, he sat up and punched his pillow. Why did he let himself fall for her and for her daughter? He missed his Katydid as much as he missed Jo. After all these years, and all the women who had walked out on him, how could he let someone else in?

Giving up on sleep, he got out of bed and stomped downstairs. He ate dry cereal straight out of the box and washed it down with a swig of milk from the carton. He wiped his hand across his mouth wandering aimlessly into the living room and slumping down on the couch Jo bought him; he rubbed his eyes frustrated, everything made him think of her. And if that wasn't enough, when he stood up to go back up to his room to sulk, he stepped on a corner of one of Katie's books that had gotten pushed under the couch. He picked it up in a huff and threw it across the room.

Finally deciding to go for a run, he slipped on a pair of athletic shorts, tied up his running shoes, and put his earbuds in blasting heavy metal. After the run, he went to the gym and worked himself to exhaustion. He grabbed a sandwich from a deli on the way home, ate, and passed out on _her_ couch.

The next day at work, Jo volunteered to cover the pit. Anything to stay off of peds. She didn't want to see Alex _or_ Jason for that matter.

She had just finished treating and discharging a patient when Stephanie joined her at the nurses station. "You got off of Karev's service just in time; he is on a rampage. Worse than his usual jackass self," she sighed.

Jo bit her bottom lip and concentrated on the chart in front of her, trying to convince herself she didn't care. He wasn't hers to worry about; let his _new girlfriend_ figure out his foul mood. She inadvertently snorted out loud.

Steph gave her a curious look, "What's your deal?"

"Nothing, I was just… Nothing."

"O-okay, do you wanna go grab lunch?" she asked still eyeing Jo with concern.

Jo closed out the patient's chart and handed the tablet to a nurse, "Sure," she agreed and followed her friend to the cafeteria.

Jo got out of the hospital as quickly as possible after her shift had ended. She was tired, stressed and emotionally drained. Her last case of the day had, of course, been an 11 year old boy, so she had to call for a peds consult and, of course, it had to be Alex that answered the page. They both remained stiff and professional throughout the ordeal, not saying one word that wasn't directly about their patient and his plan of care. Everyone in the room could feel the icy tension.

Katie was thrilled to stop for a happy meal on their way home and chattered non-stop the entire ride. They had finished eating, Katie had had a bath, and they were settled on the couch to read a book, when there was a loud pounding knock. Startled, Jo made her way quickly to the door and looked out the peep hole. She blew out a frustrated sigh when she saw Jason standing in front of her. She barely cracked the door open and said, "Go away, Jason. I told you, we are over. I can't make it anymore clear."

He shoved the door and pushed his way in, "I just want to talk to you, Jo. You gave me no say in this. I'm not ready to give up on us."

She nervously took a step back, "You don't get a say in it. If I'm out, I'm out." She glanced at Katie who was curled up on the far end of the couch.

"I just want to talk," he repeated grabbing Jo's arm harshly so she couldn't move away from him, "and you are going to listen."

"Jason, let go of me," she spit out, voice shaking.

"Mommy?" Katie came close sensing something wasn't right.

"Go sit down! You're mommy is busy right now," Jason sneered at the little girl.

"You're hurting Mommy," Katie pleaded in a scared voice.

He turned on Katie lifted his hand and growled, "I said go. sit. down!"

Jo's eyes widened when she saw him raise his hand to her child, "Oh hell no," she shouted and slapped his face before he could strike Katie. Shocked, he stumbled back. Katie was cowering by the front door and Jo was searching the apartment with her eyes locating her purse and phone. Jason glared back at Jo and approached her menacingly, rage flashing in his eyes, but before he had a chance to lay a hand on her she brought her leg up kneeing him in the groin and stomped her foot down on his. He dropped down to the floor gasping and holding himself. She took the opportunity, grabbed her purse and phone, and slung Katie up onto her hip. She ran out of the apartment fumbling to get her keys out of the pocket on her purse. She quickly buckled Katie into the backseat muttering, "This is bad, so bad. I will never do this again, I promise baby girl," she couldn't take the extra time to buckle Katie into her car seat. She felt horrible for not taking the extra safety measure, but she had to get out of there. She slipped behind the steering wheel, closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds breathing heavily and then started the car speeding away.

She didn't even think about where she was going; she just drove until she ended up in front of a familiar house. "Please be home. Please be home," she whispered over and over to herself as she carried Katie up the stone path.

Alex was tugging a black tank top over his head as he answered his front door. He was stunned to see Jo and Katie both barefoot and trembling, "Jo what the hell happened to you?" Katie buried head further in Jo's neck and her whimpers got louder.

"I didn't know where else to go. Can we stay here? Am I interrupting? I'm sorry," she rambled breathlessly. "I didn't know where else to go... Is she," she looked past him into the house, "Is she here? I'm sorry."

"First of all, stop apologizing. And is who here, Yang?" he asked confused and concerned.

"No," she shook her head, "The girl you… the blonde… your girlfriend. I saw you out with her," she finished with whispered regret.

She wasn't making sense, "Come in," he led her to the couch. She sat stock-still with her back rigid. The only movement was the involuntary shaking of her body. "It's okay. It's okay," he soothed. He gently took Katie into his arms; he held her tightly with one arm and wrapped the other around Jo's shoulders.

He didn't know how long they sat that way until the trembling finally stopped and Katie's whimpers quieted. "Jo, what the hell happened?" he asked in a soft tone so as not to startle Katie again.

"He came to my apartment, and I didn't… I didn't want to let him in. I told him it's over. I keep telling him it's over," her voice cracked on a sob. "He pushed the door open and he wouldn't leave and I was scared and Katie… She was scared. And then he raised his hand. He was going to hit her.." she trailed off as another sob shook her body.

Alex pulled Katie away from his body where she had been clinging to him and ran a careful eye over her, "He hit her?"

"No, no," she brushed Katie's hair back and stroked her cheek. "I… I slapped him and.. and.. and I got away. I got us away. How could I do this to her?" she took her daughter cuddling her in her lap. "I love her so much. I love you, baby, I love you so much. How could I let him around her? I invited him into our lives…" she broke down again hot tears running down her face and dripping on top of Katie's head.

"Shhh," Alex comforted pulling Jo into his embrace, "You didn't do anything wrong. You kicked him to the curb. It's not your fault he's an abusive bastard. Did he ever… Has he ever hurt you? Or, or Katie? Before?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, never," she assured him. He nodded satisfied.

"I can't go home, Alex. He was still there when I left. I don't know if he's gone."

"No. You're not going back there tonight. You'll stay here," he murmured into her hair.

He got Jo and Katie tucked into his bed, grabbed his keys and phone, and rushed out the front door. He sped over to Jo's apartment rage coursing through his body.

The door was standing open when he got there, but the place was empty. He surveyed the small space and nothing was obviously out of place. He ruffled through her closet finding a suitcase; he tossed it open on her bed and began filling it with clothes for Jo and Katie. He paused blushing slightly when he opened Jo's underwear drawer. Trying not to pay much attention he grabbed out a few bras and panties and tossed them in the open case. Next he moved to the bathroom gathering their toiletries. There was no sign of Jason, but he didn't trust that the jerk wouldn't come back, so there was no way he was going to let Jo return.

He carefully locked her front door and closed it behind him. He went to the hospital, snuck into human resources and found Jason's address. He wasn't going to get away with this. He loudly banged on the door, but was surprised to see a short, skinny dude with glasses and messy blond hair answer. The man squinted up at him "Uh, can I help you with something?"

"Where's Meyers?" Alex grunted.

The other man rolled his eyes irritated, "No idea. He came storming through here about an hour ago, packed up all his shit and left. Didn't say a word. Stiffed me on his half of the rent too."

Alex spun on his heel and stalked away without another word. The guy shook his head and closed the door. He didn't know what that was all about, nor did he care. He couldn't afford the place by himself, but he was kind of glad to be rid of his volatile roommate.

Alex went for a middle of the night run to blow off some steam. Then quietly let himself in the house. He made his way up to his room to check on Jo and Katie. Katie was asleep on Jo's chest, but Jo sat up slightly when he entered. "Where'd you go?" she whispered.

He held up her suitcase, "I went to grab you some stuff."

She smirked, "You went to kick Jason's ass? How'd that go?"

He looked down sheepishly; he shouldn't be surprised she read him so well. "He's gone," he moved further into the room and sat next to Jo on the bed. "Did you know he lives with some nerdy guy?"

She nodded, "Charles."

"Lived with… I should say he lived with a nerdy guy," Alex corrected.

Jo gasped, "Alex, what did you do?" now that he was so close she noticed the sweat glistening on his head and face, and there was no mistaking his rage as he left the house earlier. He didn't think she had seen it, but she had.

He chuckled low in his chest and held his hands up, "Nothing, I swear. I went to his place to have a 'little chat' with him, but he was gone. His roommate said he packed up and left."

Jo let out a quiet chuckle of her own, "Probably for the best with the way you stormed out of here." Why had he gotten so angry? Sure Jason's a jerk, but they hadn't gotten hurt. She took care of them and gotten away. Why did Alex care so much… about her? Why was he willing to fight Jason… for her?

Alex stood up, "You should get some rest," he mumbled retrieving some clean clothes from his drawer and heading to the shower.

He stepped out of the bathroom towel drying his hair. He gazed across his room to his bed. Jo slept restlessly with Katie undisturbed right beside her. He stood motionless watching her for awhile. What was it about this woman? He felt a connection to her like he had never felt before. Something inside him bubbled up and just wanted to hold her and protect her forever and Katie too. He had never wanted a family as badly as he did now. What was he thinking? They were barely even friends anymore let alone more than that. Jo's phone chimed a message, breaking him out of his thoughts. It was late, and he was tired; he chalked his crazy fantasies up to that.

He grabbed Jo's phone off the table beside his bed before it could make noise again and wake the girls up. The screen glowed with an unread text message: ITS NOT OVER UNTIL I SAY ITS OVER. The message was blank where the sender should be; no name, no number. Alex stared at the phone as a chill ran through him. He slid his thumb over the screen deleting the message. He didn't want Jo to see it, but how could he keep it from her?


	12. Safe Place to Land

**Safe Place to Land**

Alex figured the safest place for Jo to be, would be at work with him, so the next morning, he walked her and Katie into the hospital and down to the daycare. After dropping Katie off, he told Jo she would be on his service. He hurried to the attendings lounge to quickly change into his scrubs so he could meet her right outside the residents locker room. He didn't trust Jason and was highly alert to his surroundings.

Cristina narrowed her eyes at Alex when he entered the lounge, "What's the deal with your hairball and her douchey boyfriend?"

He scrunched up his eyebrows at her "What?"

"He turned in his resignation to the board effective immediately. He's gone. Did she go with him?"

"No," he spat, "She's not with him. She broke up with him days ago." He tuned out the rest of the conversation, deep in thought. What was his game? He had to be planning something, didn't he? Alex knew it was Jason that sent the mysterious text to Jo. Was he just trying to scare her, or was he really a threat?

He met Jo as she was leaving the locker room, "Oh, hey," she said surprised to see him there. He fell into step beside her until they were alone on the elevator.

"So, umm, Yang told me this morning that Jason," he said the name with a sneer, "turned in his resignation. He's not coming back to work."

Jo breathed out a sigh of relief; she had been dreading running into him at the hospital. "Really? Oh thank goodness."

He nodded, hesitating a moment too long to tell her about the text message. Before he could open his mouth to get the words out, the elevator stopped and they got off on the peds floor. He hovered close by her all day, but didn't tell her why. She was in an especially good mood and seemed like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He didn't want to ruin that.

That night while Alex was in the shower, Jo gathered up her and Katie's stuff. Coming down the stairs, he saw her bag by the door, "What are you doing?" he asked pointing to the bag.

Jo got up from the couch and met him in the entryway, "We're going home. Thank you for letting us stay last night…"

"You can't go back there," Alex shook his head, adamant.

"He's gone, you said so yourself. He cleared out his apartment, and he resigned from the hospital… And, and you need your space. You can't have us here; what about your girlfriend?" Jo stumbled over her words.

"Shut up about that," he ran his hand through his hair and blew out a frustrated sigh. "She's not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend. We went on one date; a date I cut short," he corrected vehemently.

"What! why?" her eyes widened with surprise. When she had seen them leaving the bar together she thought they were making an early night and going back to his place, or her place.

"Really Jo, don't you see it?" he asked bewilderment clearly on his face. "Because she's not you," his eyes bored into hers.

"But Alex," she protested taking a step back.

"Shut up… I love you," he said with wide honest eyes.

Jo gasped softly; she opened and closed her mouth a couple of times unable to form words. Did she hear him right? He loves her? Her eyes sparkled and her face broke into a grin, but before she could say anything or make a move towards him, Katie ran to find her mom, hugging her around the legs, "I hungy Mama," she looked up at Jo with her bottom lip pushed out in a pout.

The little girl had broken the spell. Alex cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, "I think there's a frozen pizza in there; how does that sound?" he asked tickling Katie's tummy.

"Pizza," she cheered. Jo settled Katie on the couch with a few crackers to hold her over until the food was ready and a cartoon, then she went into the kitchen with Alex to make supper.

"You can't go home," he started as soon as she walked in. Jo just stared at him; he wasn't even going to address the bomb he had just dropped on her. "Last night, I did something I shouldn't have," he explained sheepishly busying himself with the pizza.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Alex what did you do?"

"You got a text and I deleted it. I thought I was protecting you, but you need to know. I should have told you; we should have gone to the police," he rushed the words out.

"Wh-what? Alex slow down, you're scaring me. What text? The police?" she shook her head trying to make sense of what he was saying.

"Last night, after you were asleep, you got a message. You had had a long awful night and you were finally asleep, so I didn't want it to wake you up. I grabbed your phone to silence it, but I saw what the message said. I didn't want you to get scared. I was going to… I am going to protect you," he stood in front of her placing his hands on her shoulders.

"What did it say? Was.. Was it from Jason?" her voice shook with fear.

"There was no name or number from the sender, but it's him. It said 'it's not over until I say it's over'." Jo brought a trembling hand up to her mouth and Alex pulled her into his chest wrapping his strong arms around her. "It's going to be okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he whispered into her hair kissing her lightly on the top of the head.

Jo tossed and turned for hours that night. Finally, Alex popped his head in the room to check on her and saw she was awake. He walked softly to his bed, he had given his bed to Jo and Katie and taken the couch, "Hey, you still up?"

"Yeah, something about getting threats from my ex makes it hard to sleep," she cracked sarcastically. What she didn't say was that alternately between thinking about that she kept replaying his confession of love to her over and over in her mind. They hadn't spoken of it since Katie had interrupted their moment.

"That's why I didn't wanna tell you," he grumbled. He sat next to her in the bed and drew her close putting an arm around her. He rubbed his hand up and down her bare arm soothingly. The contact sent tingles throughout her body. How had she never noticed the sparks between them before? He had said, 'don't you see it', was it so obvious to everyone else that he had feelings for her? More than friendly feelings? She had tried not to acknowledge her feelings for him. She hadn't wanted to fall for him; he was too good for her. She was afraid if she loved him she would end up hurt. But now? Now he claimed to love her. She sighed trying to turn off her brain. She needed to sleep, and now in his arms she felt a sense of security. She yawned and gave in to sleep.

She woke up the next morning to a bed occupied by only her and Katie. Alex must have gone back to the couch sometime during the night she decided with a hint of disappointment. It was for the better; it would only confuse Katie if Dr. Alex was sleeping with them. She heard the shower running and decided she would get up and surprise Alex with breakfast.

Alex replayed the night before over in his mind as he let the hot water spray over him. He had blurted out that he loved Jo. He hadn't consciously made the decision to do that… He didn't want to take it back, but he didn't know if he wanted to bring it up again. She hadn't said anything about it, and he didn't know if she was trying to pretend it never happened or just what, but she had too much going on right now to throw that at her too. He smiled to himself as he remembered the feeling of her falling asleep in his arms. Sure he had snuck out early to take a shower; he didn't know how early Katie woke up, and that just wasn't a good idea. But he wouldn't mind falling asleep with her for the rest of his life… He shook his head; what was wrong with him? He had never held so many fantasies about a forever. This girl was doing a number on him.

He finished his shower and bounded down the stairs to the kitchen. Walking in, he saw Jo standing frozen with her phone in her hand and pancakes burning on the stove. He quickly moved around her and turned the burner off pushing the griddle to the back of the stove. Wait, where had she found a griddle? He shook his head, that didn't matter right now. "Jo?" he approached her cautiously, "Jo what is it? What's wrong?"

She looked up with fear in her eyes and handed him the phone. She was in a text message thread and the only message was, 'YOU'LL BE SORRY', sent just a minute before. Just like the last message there was no name and no number.

They skipped breakfast and stopped by the police station on their way to work. Jo told the officer everything. They promised to put someone on the case and determined to find the whereabouts of Meyers.

Jo and Katie continued to stay with Alex. Katie was thrilled to get to spend so much time with Dr. Alex. Jo and Alex kept up their walls each thinking the other would bring up the 'big L word' if they wanted to act on it. Jo was sure she had heard him right, but was afraid he regretted blurting it out, and Alex didn't want to scare Jo off by talking about it again.

A week passed with no word from or about Jason. The update from the police department was that there was no update. Jason Meyers had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

After another week, Jo was beginning to relax. She determined he was just angry and wanted to scare her. She was slowly letting her guard down little by little.

One afternoon, Alex knew Jo was safely in the OR with Meredith, so he was able to relax. He was outside enjoying some fresh air, "If April is what you want, let Stephanie off the hook and go for it," he advised Jackson.

"It's not that easy, I'm not what she wants," the plastic surgeon complained.

"Then throw in the towel and embrace your relationship with Edwards."

"Why am I taking advice from you?" Jackson grimaced. They rounded a corner on their way back to the hospital entrance, "What's going on there?" he asked nodding towards a group of kids in the parking lot.

Alex barely looked up, "Daycare took the kids on a field trip; they must be getting back," he shrugged scrolling through his phone.

"Hey," Jackson nudged his friend, "Isn't that Wilson's girl wandering away?"

Alex looked up to see Katie walking towards a parked car. "Yeah it is!" he stuffed his phone in his pocket and hurried over to grab Katie.

Jason was crouched down between two cars luring Katie towards him with a kitten. She didn't like Mommy's mean friend, but the kitty was so cute. She just needed to get that kitty.

The little girl was almost to him, when Alex's shadow fell over Jason. "Katie, go back with the others," Alex said gruffly turning her around and giving her back a gentle push.

"Dr. Awex!" the girl squealed in delight.

"Go back to the others, now," he demanded never taking his eyes off Jason who was trying to inch back ever so slightly.

If he could just put a little more distance between himself and the pediatric surgeon, he could make a run for it.

Katie pouted, but went back to Miss Laci. The other daycare workers had ushered all the children inside, and Miss Laci scooped Katie up and hurried her inside as well.

Out in the parking lot, Alex grabbed Jason by the collar and yanked him up, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" he growled in the man's face eyes burning with rage.

Jackson jogged over and stood behind Jason; he had no way out. "Alex, don't do anything stupid," Jackson cautioned before his friend could get himself into trouble by tearing the jerk limb from limb. He called for security and tried to keep Alex calm.

Alex was seething and he wanted to beat the bastard to within an inch of his life. He could feel his hands twitching and balling up into fists. But Jackson was right; that would only make matters worse. He stood close to Jason making the other man uncomfortable; there was no way he was letting him get away.

Jason knew he didn't stand a chance with the two attendings so he didn't fight back. Within minutes security was there handcuffing Meyers and calling the police.

Alex gave his statement and then rushed inside to the daycare. He found Katie happily playing with Sofia. "Hey, Katydid, you okay?" he asked heart still pounding.

"Dr. Awex, you bwing me my kitty?" she asked with wide innocent eyes.

He chuckled softly, "No, I didn't bring you the kitty." He pulled her up into his lap and held her close.

She sat still for a few minutes before getting restless, "I pway with Sofi," she squirmed out of his grasp going back to her friend.

He blew out a breath in relief; she didn't seem to have any idea of the danger she had been in. He got up and ruffled her hair, "I'll see ya later, Katydid." The girl was busy and didn't even acknowledge him leaving. How was he going to tell Jo about this?

Jo flew around the corner into the daycare as he was leaving, "Whoa," he reached up and caught her by the shoulders as she slammed into his chest. "Jo, calm down, everything's fine now," he assured.

"Alex? What are you doing here? What's going on?" she demanded turning her attention to Miss Laci.

"I've got it," Alex stopped the young babysitter. He wrapped his arm around Jo's shoulders and started to lead her out of the room.

"Alex stop! They said something happened with Katie. I need to see my daughter," she tried to pull away.

"In a minute," he kept a hold on her, "I'll tell you everything and then we can go get Katie." He pulled her into an empty on call room and told her what had happened. She collapsed shaking in his arms with tears running down her face. He stroked her hair and back, "Shh, shh. It's over now. It's all over. They've got him. They've got Jason. He can never bother you again. You're safe now."

After several minutes, she sniffled and wiped her eyes, "It's really over?"

"Yeah, it is," he caught a stray tear running down her face.

She sighed and held onto Alex for a few more minutes, before returning to the daycare. She caught Katie up in a big hug never wanting to let go. While the mother and daughter reunited, Alex called Meredith and let her know what was going on and that he was going to take Jo home. He rearranged his schedule for the rest of the day so he could stay with her. Katie had no idea what was going on or why her mommy was crying and fussing over her, but she was happy to get to spend the rest of the day with her.

Later that night, after Katie was tucked into bed, Alex and Jo were on the couch talking. "How could I let him in her life? This is all my fault," Jo sighed biting her thumbnail with tears pooling in her eyes.

"Jo, it's okay…"

"It's not okay," she interrupted, "My kid almost got kidnapped.. or.. or.. I don't want to even think about what he could have done to her," she sniffled, "I let him in and… and then, when I thought he was gone for good, I let my guard down. It's all my fault. What was I thinking? I'm a horrible mother," she cried.

"Hey," Alex scolded gently, drawing Jo into a hug, "you are an amazing mom. You do everything for that little girl and you love her and she loves you. Nothing is your fault. You dated a man, so what? You didn't know he was a jerk, and when you figured it out you dumped him. Not your fault he's crazy." He leaned back to meet her eyes, "And Katie is going to be okay. She is okay. Kids are resilient and besides she doesn't even know what was going on," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

She smiled a little and wiped her eyes, "Thank you, Alex, for being here for us."

"Always."

Jo laid back resting her head on him. She stayed that way, motionless, for so long he thought she had fallen asleep. "Alex, I'm scared," she mumbled into his chest.

"What?" he raised an eyebrow looking down at her.

She sat up and faced him, "Love is not for me… I mess it up, everytime… And this time it feels different… It feels more real… It feels, it feels… More," her voice drifted off.

He studied her, "Jo, are you saying…"

She reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand, "I love you, Alex." His face lit up and he broke into a smile. They stared into each other's eyes until Jo's drifted down to his lips and she bit her bottom lip looking back up, "Well, are you gonna kiss me or not?"

He leaned forward and kissed her with all the passion that had built up over the last months. When they broke apart for air he stroked his thumb down her cheek, "I love you."

"I love you too, and it scares me," she breathed.

"You don't have to be scared," he assured her gazing steadily into her eyes, "I'm not going anywhere, and you're not going to mess anything up." He leaned in again pressing a tender kiss to her lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She trusted him, because somehow she knew, she had finally found a safe place to land.


	13. Take it Slow

**A/N:** I had a change of plans. Originally chapter 12 was going to be the last chapter of this story. I was planning a sequel set further in the future, but I have decided to continue with this story instead. Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing. Your support means so much to me. I hope you all will continue on this journey with me. I hope you continue to read and enjoy Safe Place to Land.

* * *

 **Take it Slow**

The first rays of the morning sun were starting to creep through the blinds. The house was quiet and still. Alex was fast asleep on the couch with his head resting on the back and his feet propped up on the coffee table, Jo curled into his side snoring softly. After confessing their love the night before and a pretty heated make out session, the two had fallen asleep blissfully in each other's arms.

Upstairs, Katie woke up in a now familiar room. She and Jo had been staying with "Dr. Alex" for two weeks while Jason was nowhere to be found. Alex had no intention of letting them go back to their apartment while he had still posed a threat. The pediatric surgeon bought a bed and a small dresser for the guest room giving his friend and her daughter a place to stay where he knew they would be safe and protected.

Katie sat up blinking slowly, thumb secure in her mouth. She looked around the room but didn't see Mommy. The bed beside her was empty as was the rest of the room. But Mommy was always there when she woke up, the little girl sniffled. She crawled over to the side of the bed and carefully slipped down until her feet hit the floor. She softly padded out of the room in search of her mother.

"Whoa," Cristina reached out and grabbed the girl under her arms lifting her up just as she was about to take a step down the stairs, "Not a good idea, Mini Hairball." The name fit Katie especially well this morning, Cristina thought, as her auburn curls were wild from sleep.

Katie struggled against the arms holding her for a moment before looking back into the Asian doctor's face, "Where Mommy?" she asked around her thumb realizing who held her. She was used to Cristina; she saw her around Dr. Alex's house a lot.

"Hmm.. I don't know for sure, but I have a pretty good guess," she smirked at the girl turning her around and settling her on her hip. "Let's go find out, shall we?" she plucked Katie's thumb out of her mouth causing the little girl to poke her bottom lip out in a pout, "And don't talk with that in your mouth. In fact, you shouldn't suck your thumb at all."

Cristina carried Katie the short distance down the hallway to Alex's bedroom. Loudly rapping on the door, she shoved it open, "Oh Evil Spawn, Hairball," she called in a singsong voice. She was shocked to see the bed empty, "Hmm, guess I was wrong," she shrugged. "Well, let's go downstairs and see if we can find them, huh?"

When they got to the bottom of the stairs, they spied the couple cozy on the couch, "Well, I wasn't too far off, was I?" Cristina muttered proudly to herself.

"Mommy!" the toddler squealed as Cristina set her down on the floor. She ran over to the couch and started patting her mommy's knee.

Jo's head snapped up at the sound of her daughter's voice, "Katie, what is it? Are you okay?" she asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Where was she? she glanced around, realization hitting her as she became more fully awake. She grabbed Katie up into a tight hug; the memory of the events of the day before hitting her, and a smile tugged at her lips as she cast her eyes back to where Alex was still sleeping soundly beside her. She'd said it, they'd said it, they had finally admitted their feelings to each other.

Katie strained to get out of her mother's embrace, "I hungy," she declared.

"Okay, let's go get you some breakfast," Jo said letting herself be dragged off the couch and towards the kitchen by her daughter, but she couldn't resist lingering a moment to place a peck on Alex's lips and stroke his cheek.

It wasn't long before the commotion in the kitchen woke Alex. He got up rubbing his neck and made his way in there. "Morning," he croaked reaching for the coffee.

"Good morning," Jo said softly meeting his eyes a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

He stared for a long moment wanting to close the gap between them and kiss her, but feeling the eyes of the other occupants of the room, Cristina and Katie, on him he hesitated. The brief hesitation was enough to break the spell as Katie chortled, "Dr. Awex, I got jelly," she held her toast up so he could see she did in fact have jelly.

Alex chuckled and sat down at the table by the little girl, "I see that, but I think you're supposed to eat the toast too," he corrected noting how she was licking the jelly off of the toast.

Jo smiled, it always warmed her heart to see the way Alex interacted with Katie. She put more bread in the toaster asking, "Do you want some?" She moved to stand behind him and massaged his neck sending shock waves through his body.

He closed his eyes relishing the touch of her soft skin on his, before taking a peek at his watch, "No time. I gotta get to the hospital, and so do you," he groaned in disappointment not ready for the massage to end, and not only because of the crick he had gotten in his neck from the way he had been sleeping on the couch.

"Oh crap," she muttered only then realizing how late it had gotten. They heard the front door close behind Cristina as they rushed around to get ready.

Standing in the doorway of the daycare waiting to sign Katie in, Jo's breath hitched and a moment of panic seized her. She clung tight to Katie's hand. Could she do this? Could she leave her baby? She had tried to push it all from her mind. She knew Jason was in jail and they were safe, but it was still hard to leave her.

Katie tried to get away; she tried to pull her hand from her mother's grasp. "Mommy," she whined trying again to get away, "I go pway wiff Sofi." She had spotted her friend in the brightly painted room.

Jo wanted to hold on longer, but knew she couldn't. Finally, she let go of her daughter's hand. She knelt down next to her and gave her a firm hug, "I love you Katie; have fun today." She stood up and watched the girl hurry away.

"We'll keep a close eye on her, I promise," Miss Laci assured Jo, gently patting her shoulder.

"I know," the anxious mother nodded.

"Jo? Where have you been? You're going to be late for rounds," Stephanie chastised when Jo made it to the locker room to change. The other interns were already on their way out.

"I know, I know, I'm hurrying," Jo threw her stuff in her locker and changed quickly.

She spent her morning in the pit working with Dr. Kepner. During a lull in the activity, she decided to run to the daycare, check in on Katie, and spend some time with her. She was disappointed to find the little girl napping when she got there. She brushed her fingers gingerly through Katie's hair and kissed her on the forehead. She sighed and slowly made her way to the cafeteria for lunch.

Grabbing a sandwich and bottle of water Jo scanned the room. Callie and Arizona were sharing a table and the ortho surgeon waved her over. "Hey," Jo greeted setting her tray down.

"Hey, do you wanna join us?" Callie asked as Arizona gave the intern a friendly wave.

"Sure, I was gonna spend some time with Katie, but she's asleep," Jo answered gratefully, sitting down.

Callie looked around the cafeteria, "Where's Karev? He's been trailing you for a couple of weeks now. I can't believe he let you out of his sight."

Jo shook her head, "I guess you didn't hear; Jason's in jail. Alex doesn't have to worry about me anymore." Callie and Arizona both turned surprised eyes on Jo. She had told Callie some of what was going on with her ex but not everything. Callie hadn't known the extent of the threats Jason had made. She filled the attendings in on the whole story ending with the arrest the day before.

"Wow," Callie breathed, "and here I thought it was just because Karev was crushing on you," she cracked.

Jo laughed, "Well, that too," she blushed.

Callie narrowed her eyes and studied Jo, "Wait, what happened?" she asked. The younger woman bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands. "Jo, what is it? Tell me."

"He umm… Well, he told me he loves me," she said quietly the blush deepening on her cheeks.

"What?!" Callie grinned at her friend. "Well, what did you say?" she quirked her brow.

"Nothing at first," Jo admitted, "he just kinda blurted it out, and then Katie interrupted us." Callie groaned feeling the frustration the couple must have felt. "And then he just changed the subject. It didn't come up again for weeks, until… until I told him," she finished covering her face.

"Aww," Arizona cooed, "I told you," she hissed to her wife with a cocky smirk. "I told her you were different for Alex," she answered the question written across Jo's face.

"So what now?" Torres asked.

Jo shrugged, "I don't know. It just happened last night, and then this morning we had to rush off to work. We haven't really had much time to _talk_."

Catching onto the inflection in her voice Callie gave a knowing smirk, "Oh yeah, I see, no time to 'talk' last night, huh?"

Jo's face reddened once again, "It's not like that," she insisted, "We just kissed, I swear," she held up her hands.

"Too bad," Arizona laughed getting up to throw her trash away and head off to surgery. The other two joined in her laughter.

Turning serious again, "What's there to talk about? You're in love," Callie said dreamily.

As they were finishing their lunch, Alex appeared in the cafeteria with Cristina. His face lit up when his eyes landed on Jo. "What's wrong with your face?" Cristina snarked following his line of vision, "Oh," she rolled her eyes, "shoulda figured." Feeling his gaze, Jo turned her head catching his eyes. She smiled and batted her lashes as he winked at her. "Ugh, gag," Cristina quipped, "Come on let's just get our food and get outta here before I lose my appetite."

Alex grabbed Jo's arm stopping her as she passed by, "Hey, um, what time are you off tonight?"

"Seven," she answered placing her hand on top of his where it still rested on her arm, "you?"

"Same. See you then?"

She nodded standing up on her toes and kissing his cheek, "I gotta go."

He watched her walk away until Yang nudged him, "Come on, lover boy."

"He's worse now that he's got her, than he was when he was pining after her," Cristina griped to her best friend as they barged into Meredith's room to eat lunch with her.

Mer shifted the newborn in her arms and held up a hand, "Wait, 'now that he's got her'? Since when? Since when does he have her?" she looked questioningly between her two friends annoyed to have seemingly missed so much while having her baby and lying in a hospital bed.

Cristina shrugged, "Don't ask me; all I know is they were wrapped up in each other's arms asleep on the couch drooling all over each other this morning." Alex snorted shooting her a glare. "Almost couldn't eat breakfast and now he's ruining my lunch too."

"Shut up," he snarled in her direction taking a big bite of his sandwich. Mer turned her eyes to him raising an eyebrow wordlessly asking how it had happened. With mouth still full he mumbled, "It's not a big deal. It just kinda happened last night. She said she loved me, whatever."

"Ooo," Mer teased.

"Shut up," he grumbled snatching up his food and making a move towards the door.

"Don't, don't," Meredith stopped him, "Stay. I'm sorry."

"Fine, just talk about something else," he grumped slouching back down in his chair. The two women bit back laughter. They loved teasing him, but they really were happy for their friend. He deserved some happiness.

A few minutes after seven, Alex met Jo and Katie outside of the daycare. "Hey Jo," he grinned looking into her eyes, "Hey Katydid, did you have fun today?"

"Uh huh," the little girl responded and then launched into a detailed description of her day causing the adults to chuckle quietly. She squirmed in Jo's arms so the mother put her down and she happily walked to Alex's car between him and Jo.

They stopped for take out and made their way back to Alex's. "I guess I'll get our stuff around when we're finished here," Jo said over dinner.

"You don't have to go," Alex offered hesitantly.

"Thank you, Alex, for all you've done for us. Giving us a safe place to stay, protecting us, but Jason's not a threat anymore. We need to go back to the apartment."

He shook his head, "But I'm telling you, you don't have to go," he said again searching her eyes.

She looked down pushing the food around on her plate, "But we do. I… It's too much, too soon. I can't… I can't keep staying here with you. We just started… What did we start? I don't even know," she shrugged chancing a brief glance up at him. "We went from barely tolerating each other to friends to.. to 'I love you' in a matter of months.."

"For the record," Alex stopped her, "I never had a problem with you. I always liked you," a tender spark glistened in his eyes, "there was never any 'barely tolerating' you. But I'm glad to know where I stood," he chuckled lightening the mood for a split second.

She smirked, "Whatever, all I'm saying is we need to… _I_ need to take this slow. I can't rush into anything again… not with her," she said tilting her head towards Katie who was busily eating her noodles paying no attention to the adult conversation going on around her.

"Alright, I get that," he reached over and squeezed Jo's hand, "We'll take it as slow as you want."

She returned the squeeze and gave him a soft look, "Thank you," she whispered.

After they had finished eating, Jo packed up her and Katie's things that they had with them at Alex's. He walked them to the car standing back and watching as Jo buckled Katie into her car seat in the back. When she had closed the door, he grabbed her hand and turned her toward him, "You gonna be okay?" he asked tucking her hair behind her ear.

She took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, we'll be okay. It'll be rough tonight, but I've gotta go back sometime."

"Call me... if it'll make it easier," he suggested gently stroking her cheek with his knuckles. She nodded taking a step closer and gazing into his eyes. She licked her lips and closed her eyes as he lowered his head. Their lips met in a tender kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him even closer their bodies pressing against one another.

When they finally broke the kiss, Jo backed up to her car still staring at Alex. "I guess I should go," she said with a hint of regret, "bye." She stumbled to open her car door.

"Good night, Jo," he said in a low voice with a smirk and a small wave.

Jo sat behind the wheel composing herself, heart pounding. She turned the vent towards her face and fanned herself. She pressed her fingers to her lips where she could still feel the heat and pressure of Alex's, where she could still taste him. She sighed, how was she going to take it slow with him? It was like an invisible force pulled them together, and oh the electricity between them. She shook herself from the trance that had seemed to come over her. "Are you ready to go home, baby girl?" she glanced back at her daughter as she started the car.

Alex watched from the door until Jo drove away. He closed the door and went into the living room turning the tv on; the house was suddenly too quiet. Jo and Katie had been there for two weeks, and he was going to miss having them around. He glanced at his phone knowing she hadn't even had time to get to the apartment yet let alone settle in. What was wrong with him? How had he fallen for her so hard already? He shook his head, it didn't matter, all that mattered was that he was going to do everything he could to make it work with her. If she wanted to take it slow that's just what he would do. He would wait as long as it took for her.

He was just crawling into bed when his phone rang. He picked it up and answered with a smile, "You called. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said and he could hear her own smile in her voice, "It was kinda nerve wracking coming home alone to an empty place after so long. And the last time I was here he was here," she whispered voice trembling slightly.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. You're safe now," Alex comforted her.

"I know. I'll be okay. I just got Katie to sleep and well… I wanted to hear your voice," she admitted shyly slipping under the covers and propping up on her pillows.

Alex turned off the lamp by his bed and got comfortable. The new couple talked long into the night hanging up only when they couldn't keep their eyes open any longer. They fell asleep to sweet dreams of their budding romance.


	14. Perfect

**Perfect**

Jo was leaning on the desk in the surgical wing of the hospital chatting with the other interns when Alex walked up to her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away, down the hall, and around the corner into an abandoned hallway. She was startled at first, but when she looked up into his face, she broke out into a grin. "Hey, what's up?" she asked squeezing his hand. When he was sure they were alone, he stepped in front of her settling his hands on her waist and leaned down pressing a hungry kiss to her lips. "Wow," she breathed when he pulled away, causing him to smirk down at her.

"Hi," he finally spoke.

"Hi," she giggled giving him a confused look, "Everything okay?"

"Mmhmm," he hummed rubbing slow circles with his thumbs where his hands still rested on her waist, "I don't like it when you work the night shift. I don't get to see you all day," he complained.

"Ah ha, so that's what this is," she said cupping his cheek and lifting up on her toes to kiss him again. She had just gotten to work for the night and he was about to leave after a full day. They stood in the empty corridor relishing the other's presence and touch. After a while Jo sighed and broke the spell, "I guess I better get back to work," she said, her voice heavy with regret.

"Yeah," he agreed placing another longing kiss to her lips.

"Come on, I'll walk you out," she interlocked her fingers with his and turned to walk to the elevator.

When they were outside at Alex's car, he once again turned to face her leaning back against the driver's door. She wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest hugging him. "When do you get off?" he asked. An intern's schedule could be crazy, and there was no telling when she might be off shift.

"I'm scheduled 36 hours, so not until Friday morning, but I'm off all weekend," she let her eyes drift shut as he ran his fingers through her silky hair.

"I wanna take you out, you and Katie," Alex informed her, "maybe Saturday? I can pick you up for lunch and then we can go do something?" he suggested.

She looked up into his face with a tender smile, "I… _We_ would love that." She stood up straight, reluctantly pulling herself away from him, "Oh hey, if you wanna go by my apartment, there's some leftover chicken casserole in the fridge and some brownies." His eyes lit up at the mention of food and as if on cue his stomach growled. They both laughed, "I'll just text my landlady and she'll let you in."

"That sounds great actually," he commented glad to have a home cooked meal for supper. "And Jo," he remembered as he was about to open his car door, "I've got this baby in the NICU, she just had surgery for a diaphragmatic hernia, check on her for me. I know you're not on peds but…"

"Sure," she raised up on her toes, pecked him on the cheek, and jogged away with a quick wave.

Sometime after midnight, Jo rounded on her patients, and after writing orders to appropriately adjust their treatment where necessary, she wandered up to the NICU. After scrubbing in and donning a pink gown, she entered the warm room filled with incubators, warmers, and tiny babies. She listened to the soft beeps of the many machines as her eyes scanned the room finally falling on Alex's most recent post-op patient. She stepped over to the baby's incubator and checked her vital signs, IV fluids, and medications. She was getting ready to put her stethoscope into her ears when Stephanie came up behind her, "What are you doing here?"

"Alex.. er Dr. Karev asked me to check in on her," Jo said cheeks flaming for having used his given name.

"He did? And why is that? You're not assigned to her case, I am," Stephanie said defensively.

"He just… He worries and I… We've worked together… I've been on his service, on peds a lot, and you haven't yet. It takes a while, it takes a lot for him to trust someone new," Jo tried to explain.

"Hmmph," Stephanie huffed, "I am a good doctor, in fact, I am a great doctor, and I can take care of a sick baby. I don't need someone checking up on me, not a fellow intern anyway. And you can go run and tell your _boyfriend_ that," she spit out eyes flashing.

Jo sighed, "I'm sorry, Steph. I know you don't need me to check up on you and really that's not how he meant it, I swear. He just, he worries so much about all of his patients and he knew I was here so…" she trailed off with a shrug.

"Yeah well, you can tell him baby Chloe is doing just fine. Everything is going just as we would expect it," she reported, softening.

"Thanks," Jo smiled at her friend running a finger along the baby's smooth cheek, "She's cute, huh?"

Stephanie shrugged, "I guess so. I'm _so_ not in a place for babies right now. I suppose they're cute, but… I don't know how you do it," she shook her head.

Jo removed her hand from the incubator and raised her arms up over her head, stretching, "I don't have a choice, but we're making it. You figure it out," she shrugged. "I'm going to go find a place to crash for awhile."

Alex got to the hospital early the next day. He searched for Jo, noticing the hospital seemed calm and quiet. He stopped at the desk in the ICU, "Where are all the interns?"

"It was a slow night; I think they all found somewhere to hide and sleep," the charge nurse answered barely glancing up from her computer as she closed out her charts for her shift.

Nodding, Alex turned away. He knew Jo was on general surgery now so most of her patients would be here on this floor, in this ICU, so he lightly knocked on the door to the closest on-call room. He pushed the door open and peeked inside. Score! She was curled up on her side sleeping on the bottom bunk. He quietly closed the door behind him and eased down on the edge of the bed beside her.

Jo was sleeping lightly, like she tended to do when she was at work, and felt the mattress shift under her. She darted up in bed grabbing for her pager and phone. "Whoa," Alex chuckled stopping her frantic movements with hands outstretched settling on her shoulders.

"Alex," she croaked, voice thick with sleep, "What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"It's ten after five," he answered, "And I brought you breakfast," he held up a paper bag. "I wanted to see you before my day got started, and I know you will have rounds shortly so here I am now."

She smiled at his thoughtfulness and moved to wrap her arms around him, "I'm glad you did. I can't think of a better way to wake up." He reciprocated the hug and then tilted his head finding her lips. They shared a short sweet kiss. "Now give me that," Jo said snatching the bag up off the floor where Alex had set it, "I'm starved." She opened up the paper bag to find powdered donuts and two bottles of chocolate milk. "Ha, I shouldn't be surprised," she cracked a smile handing him a donut.

When they finished eating, Jo went to freshen up before rounds and Alex made his way to the attendings lounge to change into his scrubs. He swung the door open whistling. "You left awful early," Cristina remarked, "and what's got you in such a good mood? You're starting to sound like her," she pointed across the room to April.

"Shut up," April and Alex said in unison.

"Where's Mer?" Alex asked looking around.

"Uh, still on maternity leave," Cristina said in a mocking tone.

Alex rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, crap."

"Why?" Yang looked at him with interest.

"I wanna take Jo out. And Mer has kids so she would know what Katie would like to do," he explained grabbing his lab coat and stethoscope out of his locker.

"Oh," Cristina said losing interest quickly, and with that she walked out leaving Alex with no answers.

"First of all, you're a pediatric surgeon; you are around kids all day, how can you not know what they like. And secondly just take her for ice cream and a cartoon or something. The kid will love it and you'll score points with the mom," Jackson advised.

Alex rolled his eyes, "No. It has to be perfect. It'll be our first real date," he explained hating how sappy he sounded.

Jackson snorted, "If you want it to be perfect don't bring the kid," he wiggled his eyebrows in his friend's direction.

April cooed, "I think it's sweet." Which made Alex hate himself even more for bringing it up.

Bailey waved them off, "Don't listen to them Karev. You're doing a good thing including the child. Take it from me as a former single mother. It means a lot to a woman when you get along with her kids. It means everything," she patted his back as she walked past to leave the room. "Tuck likes the zoo or the children's museum.. Yeah he loves the museum."

Finally, Saturday, the day of the big date, rolled around. Jo woke up early with butterflies in her stomach. She shook her head at herself as she stepped under the steamy water of the shower. What was her problem? It was just a date. It was just Alex. They had spent hours and hours of time together. This was nothing different. After her shower and breakfast, she sighed trying to find something to pass the time. The hands on the clock seemed to be stalled. She threw some laundry in and did a little light cleaning while Katie played with her ponies.

At fifteen til noon, Alex knocked on the apartment door. "Come on in, it's open," Jo called out. Alex entered the small home to find Jo and Katie sitting in the middle of the living room floor folding clothes.

"You really should keep your door locked," he insisted bending down to kiss Jo on top of the head. "Hey there, Katydid," he offered his hand for a high five.

"Dr. Awex," the little girl ignored his outstretched hand and ran into his arms hugging him tightly instead. He chuckled returning the hug. "You ready?" he asked standing up, easily lifting Katie up in his arms. Jo nodded, grabbed her purse, and followed Alex out locking the door behind her.

Alex opened the door for Jo and, once again carrying Katie, followed her into Serendipity Cafe. They were seated by a perky waitress and ordered their drinks. Katie looked around wide eyed, "Mommy, look at that," she whispered in awe pointing to a dollhouse in one corner of the cafe.

Jo mimicked her wide eyed wonder, "Oh wow, Katie, that's really neat."

"Can I go pway, Mommy, pwease?"

Jo chuckled, "Yeah, go play. I'll come get you when your lunch is here." She helped the little girl down from her booster seat and shifted at the table so she would have a clear view of her daughter. Jo let her gaze wander around the restaurant. She took in all the books, puzzles, and toys in the play area, "Where did you find this place?" she asked Alex, impressed.

He shrugged and looked down at the table, "I dunno, I was just lookin around for somewhere neat Katie'd like."

Jo's eyes sparkled as she looked at Alex tilting her head to meet his eyes, "She loves it, and so do I. Thank you for trying so hard with her. You don't know what it means to me," she echoed Bailey's words. He rubbed the back of his neck looking away, blushing. They enjoyed their lunch, each getting a cheeseburger and fries and then piled back into the car.

Alex took Bailey's advice but with his own twist taking them to the aquarium. He figured the zoo and the children's museum would be fun trips for other days. They got their tickets and then started on their journey. Katie was intrigued by the illusion that she was under the water with the fish. She was delighted by the touch pools where she got to be up close and personal with the sea life, and Alex and Jo flirtatiously splashed water on each other. But she hated the octopus exhibit; she clung to her mother and buried her head in Jo's neck, "Him scary, Mommy," she stuck her thumb in her mouth and refused to look.

They quickly left that exhibit behind and moved out into the open air to discover the shore birds of Puget Sound. The sea breeze whipped in their faces and the pungent smell of the salty water met their noses. Katie was fascinated by the birds, but nothing pleased her as much as the mammals, specifically the otters; she just loved them.

When they had made their way all around the aquarium and were back at the entrance, they ducked into the gift shop. Katie's eyes lit up and she grabbed Jo's hand dragging her over to the stuffed otters. Alex laughed as he watched them pick out just the right one. "You have a beautiful family," an older gentleman leaned his way and patted his shoulder following his eyes.

Alex opened his mouth to correct him, but decided against it, "Thank you," he grinned. It might be too soon to call Jo and Katie his family, but the more time he spent with them, the more it felt like family. This was the closest he had come to a family in a long time. Mer and Cristina were family, but this was different. The more he thought about it, the warmer he felt and the more it made him smile.

"What are you smiling about?" Jo asked sidling up to Alex with Katie in her arms.

"Hmm, nothing," he hummed. "What did you get?" he asked Katie. The toddler showed off her otter and coloring book and the starfish mug she picked out for Jo. "Wow, you picked some good stuff," he complimented rubbing the girl's back.

On the drive back to Jo's apartment, Katie informed the adults that she liked the otters the 'vewy bestest', to which they shared a look of no surprise; she had made that plainly obvious. She also liked the starfish and the seahorses. "What about the octopus?" Alex asked glancing in the rearview mirror.

"I not yike him. Him mean," she pouted putting her thumb in her mouth.

"Alex," Jo scolded him playfully, smacking him lightly on the arm.

Jo dried off her hands and hung the towel up. She had just finished the supper dishes and was going to join Alex and Katie in the living room. She stopped in the doorway and watched with a small smile on her face. Alex was lying on the floor across from Katie, who was flipping pages in her new coloring book. He would ask her questions about something on the picture in front of them and she would stop, finger to chin, thoughtfully ponder, and then answer him.

Where did he come from? This man that could be so amazingly tender with her and with her child, but could also be so crass and rude at times too. She shook her head joining them. She couldn't believe her luck in finding him. He was so right for her; they fit together so well. She caught her breath, terror seizing her heart; it was all too good to be real. She was so scared that at any moment it would slip through her hands. She had never had this; had never believed she could.

Katie chose a picture and asked Alex to color the one next to it, so they busied themselves with that while Jo continued to look on. It wasn't long before Katie's head was bobbing and her eyelids were fluttering shut. She had already been bathed and was in her pajamas. Alex scooped her up and carried her to bed, Jo following behind them. She stroked her fingers through her little girl's hair and kissed her forehead, "Goodnight," she whispered.

When she turned from the bed she caught Alex watching her from the doorway much the same way she had been watching him. His thoughts were along the same lines hers had been as well. He wondered how he had found her; in such a short time he had completely lost his heart to this woman and little girl, and now he couldn't imagine a day going by that he didn't see them and spend time with them.

Jo have him a soft look and grabbed his hand on her way out of the room. She pulled the door closed behind her leaving it open just a crack. She settled in on the couch, and Alex sat down a little ways from her grabbing her feet up into his lap and rubbing.

"Mmm, what did I do to deserve this?" she asked closing her eyes and leaning back.

He shrugged, "You work so hard between the hospital and taking care of Katie; you deserve a little pampering. Besides you did just spend the whole day with the likes of me," he cracked.

She slit one eye open and looked at him, "I don't need any thanks for that. It was one of the best days I've ever had. Katie too."

"Really?" She nodded, eyes closed once again. "You think she liked the aquarium?"

Jo sat up facing him, "She loved it. It was perfect." She leaned forward kissing his cheek. "You are amazing with her, you know?"

"It's nothing. She's a great kid," he shrugged off the compliment.

"No, I mean it," she reiterated tracing her finger along his arm that was stretched out on the back of the couch beside her. She met his eyes and they both leaned in for a kiss. It was like a magnetic force was pulling them together. Jo sighed into the kiss, savoring the taste of his lips. Alex moved his lips slowly over hers, relishing the velvety feel. Minutes passed the electricity in the room tingling through both of them.

They broke apart gasping for air but smiling. Jo cuddled into his chest, and he twisted a strand of her hair around his fingers. An easy silence filled the room. Jo tried unsuccessfully to hold back a yawn. "It's been a long day," Alex said, "I guess I should go." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head breathing in the scent of her hair.

"I guess," she stood up and walked him to the door. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully.

"You can count on it," he tilted her chin up and gave her one last goodnight kiss.


	15. Birthday Wishes

**Birthday Wishes**

Jo woke up and a smile slowly spread across her face as she recalled what day it was, June 20th. She rolled over onto her side and stared at her baby girl, not really a baby anymore. Katie was now three years old. Where had the time gone? She thought back to the same date three years earlier.

 _She didn't want to believe she was in labor, but she couldn't deny it any longer. Her contractions were coming every few minutes and each one seemed stronger than the one before. She grabbed her bag, tears in her eyes, and left her apartment. She wouldn't be alone when she returned home; she would have her brand new 'bundle of joy' with her. The only problem was, she still had no idea how to take care of a baby. She read all the books and all the blogs, but it wasn't enough; she wasn't ready. She stopped, leaning on her car as another pain ripped through her abdomen. Ready or not, this baby was coming._

 _She drove herself to the hospital, white knuckles the whole way, and signed herself in. If she had had any questions about whether this was true labor, which she didn't, they would have been answered when her water broke in the bathroom as she was changing into the hospital gown the nurse provided._

 _After the initial admission questions, assessment, consents and IV, the young nurse gave Jo a sympathetic look, "Is there someone you would like for me to call for you?"_

 _Jo sucked in a sharp breath and sat down on the edge of her bed eyes clinched shut tightly. When the pain had passed, she shook her head and replied quietly, "No, there's no one."_

Jo continued to watch Katie sleep as she ran her fingers lightly through the girl's silky hair. She would never ever forget the sweet nurse she had while she was in labor. She spent hours at Jo's side when Jo knew there had to have been so many other things she needed to be doing. She rubbed Jo's back and coached her on breathing through the contractions, she held her hand while the epidural was being placed, letting Jo squeeze as hard as she needed. She had even stayed two hours past the end of her shift to support Jo through the last stages of labor and meet the tiny newborn baby. She owed so much to that nurse, she thought, as her mind once again drifted back.

 _With one last hard push, Jo felt a sudden relief and heard the first cries of her baby girl. Her eyes welled up with tears and she cried right along with Katie. The doctor laid the squirming, pink bundle on Jo's chest. The new mother gasped, "She's beautiful."_

 _"She is," Addie agreed, "And you did awesome." Jo looked over and met the nurse's eyes seeing tears there. "Congratulations, Mama."_

Addie, Jo's nurse, didn't work again during Jo's hospital stay, so she never knew that Jo had named her baby girl after her, giving Katie the middle name Addelyn.

Katie stirred and popped her eyes open. She was greeted by her mother's smiling face, "Happy birthday!" Jo sang out.

Katie's face lit up, "It's my birthday?" she asked, "I get my pony pawty?" She had been waiting and waiting for it seemed forever for her birthday party her mommy had promised.

Jo laughed, "Yep, you get your pony party." Jo had planned a My Little Pony party for Katie. Later that afternoon they would join her little friends from daycare at Alex's house to celebrate. Alex had insisted on having the party at his house stating her apartment was 'too small for all of those kids to be running around'. "But first," she got her daughter's attention, "You get your favorite chocolate chip strawberry pancakes, with lots and lots of whipped cream," she widened her eyes and kissed Katie on the tip of her nose. The little girl sat up on her knees clapping.

Jo rushed across the driveway to Alex's front door as quick as she could manage while balancing the bakery cake box on one hand and holding Katie's with the other. Hearing the commotion, Alex met them at the door flinging it open for them. "You're soaked," he greeted his two favorite girls.

"Uh yeah, it's kinda pouring out there," Jo sassed in return.

Ignoring her, he turned to Katie, "Happy birthday, Katydid. Three years old, huh? How does it feel?"

"I dunno," she said reaching up for him.

Alex easily lifted her up into his arms before placing a kiss on Jo's cheek, "You can put the cake in the kitchen. Everything is set up in the living room and backyard."

Her eyes widened, "The backyard? Alex it's raining," she stated the obvious.

"Don't worry about it, I got it covered," he assured her, "literally," he added under his breath.

"It's just a small party," she argued, setting the cake down on the counter, "we don't need to use the backyard and get everybody wet out in the rain."

"I said, don't worry about it; just trust me you'll love it."

"What did you do?" she asked skeptically moving to the back door to peer out into the yard. Alex stood back, leaning against the bar, trying to hide the proud smile tugging at his lips. She threw the door open and saw a huge brightly colored tent set up covering almost the entire backyard, and inside the tent were three white ponies happily munching on a small hay bale that had been set in the corner. The ponies looked identical, except for the color of their tails and manes, one was dyed pink, one purple, and the third was dyed blue. She gasped covering her mouth and turning to him, "Alex.. How? Where..?"

He lost the battle with his face and broke out in a grin. Setting Katie's feet down on the floor he approached Jo, reaching out and placing his hands on her waist, "I wanted to do something special… for her." He gazed lovingly down into Jo's eyes. "I hope it's okay?" he added quieter, just then realizing he maybe should have clued Jo in on his plans, "I wanted to surprise you, both of you."

She held onto his forearms and smiled up at him, fighting the urge to get lost in his eyes. When had any man looked at her with such tenderness? She nodded, finding her voice, "Yeah, of course it's okay, it's great. Thank.." before she could finish, a squeal split the air and Katie slapped her hand on the back door trying to get out.

"Ponies, ponies," she said over and over pointing out into the yard. "Mommy," she whined.

"I see," Jo stood behind her, "those ponies are for later. Your friends are about to be here now. We'll get to see the ponies in a little bit."

"No! Now!" the little girl demanded.

Jo crouched down eye level with her daughter, "Katie," she said firmly getting the girl's attention, "I said, we will play with the ponies later. Right now we are going to go greet your friends. Don't throw a fit, not today. Today's your birthday," she brightened her tone.

"My birthday," Katie sing songed, regaining her enthusiasm, "but I _love_ the ponies," she shot one last longing look towards the backyard.

"I know," Jo stood up and took her hand, "tell Alex thank you for the ponies," she led the girl to the living room just as the doorbell rang.

"Thank you, Dr. Awex," she grinned up at him.

"You're welcome," he tweaked her nose as he passed by her to answer the door.

The party was in full swing. Jo had My Little Pony crowns and masks for each child, and it wasn't enough that Alex had rented a tent and actual real live ponies for the kids to ride, he also rented a photo booth. Everyone, parents and children alike, had had multiple turns in the booth. Jo had even drug Alex in with her against his will.

After a party game, Katie opened her presents, and then Jo brought out the cake. Keeping with the theme, it was brightly decorated with rainbows, clouds, and ponies. The guests sang 'Happy Birthday' and Alex lifted Katie up holding her over the cake, "Make a wish and blow out the candles," Jo encouraged. The little girl took a deep breath and then blew as hard as she could, blowing all three candles out to the cheers of her friends.

It was finally the time all the kids, especially Katie, had been waiting for. Alex and Callie were out with the kids making sure everyone was taking turns on the ponies. Jo was sitting on the covered porch with Meredith and Arizona. She was watching Alex with a small smile on her face. Meredith noticed the lovelight shining in the younger woman's eyes, "You're good for him," she nodded towards Alex, "and so is she," she indicated Katie as she and Alex laughed together.

Jo's eyes flickered to Meredith, "She loves him, so much." She wondered how much she should say to his friends. She was already uncomfortable with the attendings there at the party, but now to talk about Alex to his friends. She went out on a limb, "But I just.. I'm scared… She's gotten so attached. We both have," she admitted shyly, "and what happens if we lose it all. Because I don't get this… This, this fairy tale happily ever after, it doesn't happen for me. That's not my life."

Arizona chimed in, "Maybe you just hadn't found your prince yet," she looked out at her student with affection, "Alex is one of the good ones."

Meredith nodded in agreement, "He is," she turned to look at Jo, "You don't have to worry about Alex. When he's in it, he's all in. He's loyal almost to a fault. He's one of the good ones," she reiterated Arizona's words quietly as Alex joined them on the porch.

The group of women went silent as he approached and Alex eyed them all suspiciously, "What?"

"Nothing," Arizona chirped as Meredith busied herself with the newborn in her arms and Jo looked down at the floor blushing.

"What?" he growled again, rolling his eyes when no one answered him.

When the last guest had left, Alex helped Jo collect Katie's presents. "Here let me get those," he offered, "You take Katie; I'll follow in my car with this stuff."

Katie had had a busy day and fell asleep in her car seat before Jo even turned off of Alex's street. Alex met Jo in the parking lot of her apartment building. He gently unbuckled the sleeping Katie and lifted her out of her car seat, cradling her in his arms. Jo stood back watching starry eyed, her heart melting at his tenderness. She led Alex up to her apartment opening the door for him. She followed him to the bedroom carrying an almost life-sized stuffed white pony with pink tail and mane, that had of course been Alex's gift to Katie. She sat the toy in the corner of the room as Alex laid Katie on the bed. She moved over to the bed and slipped Katie's rainbow colored tutu off leaving her in her 'birthday girl' onesie. She pressed a kiss to Katie's forehead and quietly left the room pulling the door almost closed behind her.

Jo sat down on the couch, and Alex collapsed on the cushion beside her after grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, "Man, kids'll wear. you. out," he groaned rubbing his eyes.

"Tell me about it,"Jo giggled reaching over to massage his neck.

"So, umm," Alex broke the silence that had fallen between them, "What were you guys talking about back there when I joined you?" he asked hesitantly, picking at the label on his water bottle.

"Hmm, nothing," she replied pulling her leg up on the couch and facing him, "Your friends were just singing your praises to me. Telling me how loyal and good you are… Nothing I didn't already know," she grabbed his hand intertwining her fingers with his. "What they didn't tell me is how handsome you are," she winked. A chuckle rumbled low in his chest. "And how you know just how handsome you are, which is a little bit annoying, but also a little bit hot." He flashed her his infamous smirk and smoldering eyes, "Yep, there it is," she pointed, "That smirk that's sexy as hell."

Unconsciously she licked her lips and leaned in towards him. She was craving the taste of his lips on hers, and he was eager to oblige. The kiss started out soft, but quickly became more hungry and heated. Alex's tongue explored her mouth as he laid her back on the couch never breaking the kiss. Jo sighed as his mouth trailed from her lips down towards her neck. Her hands roamed his back desperately.

Before their encounter could progress any further, a voice interrupted them from the bedroom, "Mommy," Katie called.

Alex froze briefly before jerking back and sitting upright at the end of the couch. Jo got up more slowly and moved towards the bedroom stopping in front of Alex and pecking him on the lips, "I'll be right back," she promised.

"I needa potty," Katie whined as soon as she saw her mommy open the bedroom door. Jo helped her in the bathroom and since she was awake she brushed her teeth and changed her into her pajamas. Jo sat beside her on the bed rubbing her back as she drifted back to sleep.

When she returned to the living room, Alex was still sitting just as she had left him; back straight, feet flat on the floor, and arms crossed tightly over his chest. She sat down right next to him on the couch, thigh to thigh and shoulder to shoulder. "Jo, I'm sorry.." he started, guilt heavy in his voice.

"Shh," Jo interrupted, "There's nothing to be sorry about." She pried his arms apart and wrapped his left one around her shoulders as she curled into his side resting her head in the crook of his neck. Gradually, Alex began to relax; his body becoming less tense with the passing minutes.

She had no idea how long they stayed like that, but she felt her eyes getting heavy. Regretfully, she pulled away from him with a yawn, stretching. "I guess it's time for me to go," he said standing up and pulling her with him. He continued pulling until she had fallen into his embrace with a giggle.

"I would ask you to stay," she admitted timidly biting her bottom lip, "but…" she looked to the closed door her daughter was sleeping behind.

He leaned down, lips brushing against her ear, and whispered, "But we're taking it slow, remember?" He kissed her cheek, and with that he crossed the small apartment to let himself out. He stopped at the door and looked back flirtatiously flashing Jo _that_ smirk. He knew exactly what he did to her.

When the door had closed behind him, Jo sank down on the couch grabbing a notebook off the side table and fanning herself, "Yeah, taking it slow, right," she muttered. She allowed herself a few minutes to daydream before eventually getting up and turning out the lights. She checked on Katie who was still sound asleep, so she went to take a shower. Turning the water on, she turned the temperature down. Katie wasn't the only one making birthday wishes she thought as she stepped under the cool spray. Although, hers were more like fantasies, she sighed as Alex's face once again filled her mind.


	16. Wanted

**Wanted**

Alex snuck up behind Jo at the nurses station in the ER. He stood behind her, stretched his neck out, and pecked her cheek. She spun around quickly, causing him to take a step back pulling the two coffee cups he was holding into his chest so he wouldn't spill them. "Hey," her eyes shined and she smiled when she saw him.

"Good morning," he said holding out one of the cups to her. She reached for it, but he pulled back puckering up. She kissed him with a giggle and was rewarded with the coffee. "Where you at today?" he asked leaning against the desk and taking a sip of the steamy liquid.

"Trauma with Hunt," she stood shoulder to shoulder with him brushing her fingers against his.

"Mmkay," he muttered. "Lunch?"

"Definitely," she confirmed with a nod.

Minutes after Alex and Jo had parted, Owen jogged past, "We have an incoming, Wilson." She grabbed a trauma gown and followed him to the ambulance bay.

"Thirty-eight year old male fell from a tree landing on his axe. GCS 8 in the field, bp 80/60, pulse 120," the paramedic reported as they rushed the gurney into trauma room one. They transferred the patient onto the ER stretcher noting a makeshift bandage covering the left side of his back. Blood was starting to ooze through the bandage.

"Page cardio and neuro and get a portable ultrasound in here," Hunt called as they began working on the patient.

Within minutes, they had the patient in the OR and Jo, Owen, and Cristina were scrubbing in. The man had fallen while trimming his tree and had landed flat on his back. He had an axe lying propped up at the base of the tree and when he fell, it sliced into his back ultimately puncturing a lung.

The surgery was going better than could be expected. Jo was dutifully suctioning and assisting the other surgeons as needed, quietly listening as they made plans to get together later despite the fact that Yang was pushing Hunt to date other people. The two couldn't seem to stay apart.

"I'm finished here," Cristina announced backing away from the table, "So I will see you tonight, if not sooner," she said looking pointedly to Owen.

"Uh yeah, I'm just about done too. Wilson, can you finish closing?" he asked handing Jo the suture.

"Yes, of course, thank you," the intern took over.

"Page me when he gets to post op," he instructed and hurried from the OR.

Jo smiled behind her mask, happy not only for the opportunity to finish the surgery, but also for the possibility of spending an evening alone with Alex at his house.

On her way to meet Alex for lunch, Jo ran into Callie, "Oh hey, I was actually going to come find you this afternoon."

"What's up?" the older doctor stopped walking and turned towards her.

"Well, I know it's really short notice," Jo started sheepishly, "but I was wondering if you could watch Katie tonight?"

"Sure we'd love to," Callie answered quickly, not missing a beat, "You got big plans?" she winked at her younger friend.

"Just a.. uh.. a date with Alex," Jo stuttered, flustered.

Callie wrinkled her brows as she studied Jo's face curious about her strange reaction, but shook the questions off, "Do you just want me to pick her up from daycare when I get Sofia?"

The intern shook her head, "No, I need to talk to her about it… and pack her a bag?" she added quietly looking to the floor.

"Oh, o-oh," her eyes widened with understanding, "You do have big plans tonight," she snickered.

Jo felt the heat rush to her face, "If you can keep Katie.. Can you? I understand if you can't."

Callie put a reassuring hand on Jo's shoulder, "Yes, Katie can stay the night. We'll invite Zola too, make it a slumber party."

"Thank you," Jo spontaneously hugged her friend.

"Have fun tonight," Callie called back over her shoulder wiggling her eyebrows as she walked away.

Jo bounced into the cafeteria a slight smile tugging at her lips. She got a salad and water and scanned the room for Alex. Just when she had decided he wasn't there yet and found a table, he snuck up behind her, "Hey," he growled low in her ear.

She jumped, startled, then turned and fixed a glare on him, "Stop doing that!" she demanded.

He laughed and led her to one of the empty tables in the corner. "Sorry, you make it so easy."

Rolling her eyes, she ignored him, opting instead to change the subject, "You'll never believe what I just scrubbed in on. A guy fell outta his tree and landed on his axe puncturing his lung. But he had to have fallen pretty far, he had massive internal injuries. It was a mess in there," she shook her head. "And I got to finish closing," she said proudly.

"That's good… for you… Not so much for him," Alex said shaking his head.

"He'll be fine. The surgery went great," she assured him.

"Yeah, but still, ouch," he whistled low.

"What you never bragged about the gory surgeries you've done?" she looked up at him skeptically.

"Okay, you got me there," he surrendered pointing a french fry at her.

She swiped the fry from his hand and popped it in her mouth with a satisfied smile. "So, what time do you get off tonight?"

"I have a late surgery, but I should be done by eight or eight-thirty. Why?" he shoved a couple more fries in his mouth then offered her the plate.

"I thought I might come over, bring dinner," she looked up at him through her lashes.

"You won't get an argument from me."

After her shift ended, Jo got Katie from the daycare and hurried home. On the drive to the apartment, she asked Katie, "Do you wanna spend the night with Sofia? Zola will be there too."

"Uh huh," the little voice answered from the backseat. "But what bout you, Mommy? You be all alone."

"I'm gonna eat dinner with Alex. We're gonna spend some time together," she answered vaguely.

"I wanna see him too," Katie whined.

"Yeah I know. You will, but tonight just Mommy is going to."

"Is him your boyfriend?" the little girl asked as Jo unbuckled her from her car seat.

"Yeah, he is," she answered truthfully.

"I know," Katie nodded matter-of-fact, "know how come I know?" she looked up at her mother as they walked hand in hand into the apartment.

"How?" Jo asked, curious to what she would say.

"I sees you kissin," she whispered with a sneaky giggle. Jo opened her mouth, but then just clamped it shut again, what could she say to that? "I like him Mommy. I'm glad he's your boyfriend," the little girl gave her approval.

"Me too Katie, me too. I like Alex too."

She ushered Katie into their bedroom and got out the little girl's suitcase. "Here, pack some pajamas and a shirt and pair of pants for tomorrow and don't forget panties," she instructed her daughter. She packed the little toothbrush and toothpaste and a hairbrush. Scanning over the suitcase she nodded and closed it up. "I'm going to take a shower real quick, you sit here and watch your cartoons," Jo told Katie setting the dvr up for her.

She quickly showered and shaved. She went to her room with a towel wrapped around her body to pick out just the right outfit for the night. She dug through her underwear drawer choosing her sexiest bra and panty set, that was the easy part she thought as she opened her closet. She didn't want to look like she was trying too hard.

"This pretty, Mama," she heard Katie say. She poked her head out of the closet to see her daughter stroking the silky lace of her panties.

Embarrassed, she distracted the girl, "Come here and help me pick out some clothes." Katie hurried to help her mother. Jo finally decided on her favorite pair of skinny jeans and a blouse that she knew hugged her in all the right places. She laid the clothes out on the bed with the underwear she had already chosen and went back to the bathroom to reapply her makeup and fix her hair. She sat Katie up on the vanity beside her while she got ready.

Jo dropped Katie off at Callie and Arizona's, picked up some take out, and pulled into the driveway right behind Alex. She paused before opening the door thinking about the magnitude of the plans she had for the night.

Having seen her headlights behind him, Alex slid out of his car and jogged back to open the door for Jo. Snapping out of her musings she smiled, "I brought food," she held the bags up.

"Good, I'm starved," he took them from her and leaned in for a kiss. "Where's Katie?" he threw back over his shoulder as Jo followed him in.

"Slumber party with Sofia and Zola," she answered as they moved into the kitchen. "It's just us tonight," she said trying to hide the slight tremble in her voice. Alex's brows shot up as the possibilities dawned on him.

Jo had been so busy preparing for the date she hadn't had a chance to dwell on it, but now that she had a moment, the butterflies started dancing in her stomach. She pushed the food around on her plate suddenly not hungry. Alex didn't seem to notice as he devoured the food, famished after many long hours spent in the OR.

When they had finished eating, Alex stood and took the plate from Jo's hand, "I've got this," he continued clearing the table still unaware of how quiet Jo had become as she battled her nerves, "go ahead into the living room and find a movie to watch."

She nodded and turned to leave the room, but thinking better of it, she turned back towards him. She snuck up behind him as he rinsed the dishes in the sink. She snaked her arms around his waist, "Let's not beat around the bush; I didn't come over tonight to watch a movie."

That's all it took. Alex turned in her arms and crashed his lips down on hers. A quiet moan escaped her as she parted her lips welcoming his tongue. He explored her mouth hungrily, backing her up against the bar. Her fingers scratched through the short hair on the back of his head, and she wrapped her other arm around him pulling him closer.

When he broke the kiss, aiming instead for her neck, Jo said breathlessly, "Should we go upstairs?"

Alex growled low. Before she could make a move towards the stairs, he placed his hands behind her thighs and lifted her up. She giggled at the unexpected action and wrapped her legs around his waist. The show of strength was incredibly hot and she found herself even more turned on.

Closing his bedroom door behind them, Alex moved to the bed and sat Jo down. He sat down beside her reclaiming her lips. She scooted back on the bed pulling him down with her as she laid back. He kissed a line from her lips across her cheek to her ear where he nibbled and sucked on her lobe. He nipped, kissed, and sucked his way down her neck to her collar bone. She squirmed and whimpered in pleasure beneath him as his hands skimmed down her sides, shivering when they grazed the sides of her breasts. He stopped at the hem of her shirt, and then in one swift move he raised it up and over her head. His eyes darkened even more as he took in the beauty before him. Slowly he lowered his head to press kisses to the silky flesh spilling out of the top of her lacy dark purple bra.

Jo tensed up and froze for the briefest of seconds when his lips met her skin. Alex noticed the sudden change in her and rolled off propping up on his side, "Jo?"

She looked to the ceiling, her face flaming, what was wrong with her? She had hoped he didn't notice, but of course he didn't miss a thing.

He sat up to look for her shirt, "I'm... I thought this was what you wanted," he said remorseful. She had been the one to suggest taking it to the bedroom.

"It is.. I do.. I do want this, believe me I want this.." she swore to him.

"Jo, look at me," softly, he tried again. She finally did, ignoring the shirt he held out to her.

"It's... I've... I haven't been with anyone since Katie's dad," she said in a rush. "Four years," she whispered, "it's been almost four years," she hid her face in her hands.

The corners of Alex's lips twitched up, "Jason?" She shook her head. "No one?" he asked with wonder.

"No, not since Levi," she felt herself blushing again.

Four years and she hadn't met a man she wanted to go this far with, until him. His heart swelled at the thought. Alex gently moved her hands down and brushed her hair back, "It's okay, we'll take it slow." He stared at her, lovingly cupping her face, "You are beautiful," he kissed her lips softly sweetly. She was overcome with the tender intimacy.

Alex kept his word, with every kiss, stroke, and caress he cherished her body; he showed her how much she meant to him. With every move he made, he wanted her to feel loved and wanted like she never had been before. In a way he had never shown a woman before her.

Jo woke up, the air was cool on her bare back. She pulled the blanket up higher over her and Alex. Alex, she smiled, her thoughts drifting to the night before. She didn't know it could be like that, so passionate and loving? She had never felt anything like that before. That… that was truly making love. As her mind continued to roam, a fire began burning inside her. She started by kissing his chest. He stirred a bit but didn't wake up. Next, she moved up, nibbling on his scruffy chin and jawline. His eyes fluttered open, and when she threw a leg over his waist and straddled him leaning down to kiss his lips naked flesh pressed to naked flesh he let out a moan.

Mid morning they lay entangled with each other, panting to catch their breath. "Wow," Jo breathed, "That was definitely worth the wait," she blushed when she heard a chuckle rumble low in Alex's chest.

"Thank you," he smirked.

"Shut up," she playfully smacked his arm.

"For the record, it was worth the wait for me too," he combed his fingers through her sweaty hair.

"What, a month? Long wait," she cackled giving him a wide eyed look.

"A month? How do you figure?" he asked.

"Well, that's how long we've 'been together', isn't it?"

"It is," he confirmed with a nod, "but I haven't been with anyone since... Well since about the time we met I guess."

"Hmm," Jo hummed as she traced lazy shapes on his chest with her fingertips. "So much for taking things slow," she muttered after a long silence.

"We did take it slow, remember last night, and then we took it a little faster… And maybe even faster still," he smirked at her stifled gasp.

"That is not what I meant!"

He tucked her tighter in his arms, "I know… Do you regret it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Not a bit," she said on a yawn.

After a couple more hours of sleep, Alex walked Jo to the front door. They were standing in the entryway kissing and whispering like lovers when suddenly from the other room, "Walk of shame, Wilson?"

"Shut up, Yang," Alex hollered back. He kissed Jo soundly one more time and then let her go.

Cristina followed him into the kitchen where he was making himself a sandwich. "You finally sealed the deal? It's about time. I was worried about ya, Evil Spawn," she smirked.

"I said, shut up, Yang," he growled again.

"O-o-okay, geez, you're awful cranky for someone who just got laid."

He rolled his eyes, "Anyway, I thought you were out last night banging Hunt, what would you know?"

"Shut up, Karev," she snapped snatching up her water bottle and going back to the living room.

Alex smirked after her retreating back. He took a big bite thinking back to his time with Jo. It was amazing, she was amazing. He knew for sure he was right where he wanted to be, and where he wanted to stay.


	17. Broken

**Broken**

"What are you doing here?" Jo asked as she pulled the apartment door open to find Alex waiting behind it.

"I'm off today," he shrugged, "and you have your intern test today." He said it as if that explained why he showed up at her door first thing in the morning while she was trying to get herself and her daughter ready for the day.

"Yes, I do, which is why I don't have time this morning. I've got to get Katie dressed and to daycare so I can get in a last minute cram session," she rushed around.

He grabbed her arm stopping her, "Nuh uh. Hang at my house and study until time for your test; you don't want the distraction of the hospital, trust me. I'll watch Katie. We can go to the park or something."

"I'm meeting the other interns," she argued as she pulled out of his grasp once again setting about the apartment packing a bag for Katie for the day.

"So tell them to meet you at my house. If you're at the hospital you'll troll for cases, if you're here you'll find anything else to do. Go to my place, no distractions there," he spoke from experience.

"Are you sure?" she finally stopped and looked at him. When he nodded she crossed the room impulsively giving him a hug and quick kiss.

"Besides, you know Katie would rather spend the day with me than at the boring daycare," he said with a cocky smirk.

She swatted his arm playfully but laughed, "That's probably true."

Twenty minutes later, the trio left the apartment. Alex moved Katie's carseat from Jo's backseat to his and he and the ecstatic little girl drove off in search of a pancake house. Jo, with Alex's key in hand, a key he had no intention of taking back, headed to his place after calling her friends with the change of plans.

Alex pulled into the IHOP parking lot, turned the car off, and helped Katie out. She chattered non-stop on the way to the restaurant and kept it up as they walked in. When they had been seated and ordered, Katie looked up at Alex and said in a serious voice, "I know you're my mommy's boyfriend."

"Oh yeah?" he met her gaze with raised brows. When she nodded, "You're right I am," he confirmed.

"I'm happy, 'cause you're nice, and mommy smiles more now."

Alex sat back in the booth blown away by the girl's observation. He was impressed that the young child had noticed the change in her mother, but more than that it made his heart swell that he had brought about the change. "Yeah me too, kiddo," he admitted honestly.

Jo opened Alex's house up to her fellow interns. They were set to take their intern exam at 1:00, which meant they had all morning for last minute studying. They had planned to meet at the hospital, but Jo had to hand it to him, Alex was right, his house was definitely more comfortable and less distracting.

Alex had a full day planned. After breakfast, he took Katie to the zoo where they spent hours exploring all of the exhibits, some multiple times at Katie's request. Four times, four times he had to carry her back to see the kangaroos and they fed the giraffes at least that many. The last time they were at the kangaroo display, Katie's tummy growled loudly, "Sounds like somebody needs some lunch," Alex chuckled, "and I don't mean the giraffes again."

Katie laughed at the silly look he gave her, but agreed, "I'm hu-u-ungry."

"Well alright then, let's go get some food," he set her down on the ground grabbing her hand and letting her walk the short distance to the Zoo Cafe. He had been carrying her since the third exhibit and was ready for a break himself.

After lunch, Alex brought Katie to the gift shop where she picked out a stuffed kangaroo for herself and a coffee mug with a mama and baby kangaroo for Jo. She poked her lip out and pouted, "I miss Mommy."

"Hey, hey, hey, I know, but you'll get to see her in just a little bit," he once again picked the girl up hugging her. He rubbed soothing circles on her back attempting to dispel her sadness and avoid a break down. "You wanna go to the park?" he offered, "I know you love to swing. You're mommy told me you like to see how high you can go, and she hates it; it scares her."

The little girl sniffled, "Uh huh."

"You wanna show me? Show me how high you can swing."

"Uh huh," she started to get excited.

They made their way to the park as Jo was sitting down to take her exam. As soon as she got out of the backseat of Alex's car, Katie ran ahead of him to the swings. She climbed up into one and started pumping her legs as hard as she could. Alex laughed as he watched her. He really was having a great day. He loved that little girl every bit as much as he loved Jo. He was grateful everyday that they had come into his life.

"Whoa, Katie, that's getting a little too high," Alex cautioned nervously. He had laughed it off when Jo told him it worried her how high Katie liked to swing, but now watching her, being responsible for her, he felt it too. Katie just giggled and turned her face up towards the sunshine letting the breeze tousle her curls.

Alex's heart rate began to return to normal when Katie quit moving her legs and allowed the swing to slow down… until, "Alex," she called for his attention, "look what I can do."

Before he had a chance to move, before the words, "Katie, no!" had even had a chance to pass his lips, she let go of the chains and propelled herself forward out of the swing. She had seen the bigger kids in daycare do it all the time. They would jump out of the swings and land on their feet. She didn't quite know how they landed on their feet though, and that's the thought that took over in her mind as she crashed to the ground.

Alex rushed to her side eyes wide and wild, terror gripping him, "Katie, Katie, are you okay?" he asked over and over as he eyed her carefully, first without touching her so as not to cause more damage. She had landed in an awkward position kind of on her knees and kind of on her left side. She hadn't hit her head he knew that, and there wouldn't be any spinal cord damage from how she landed. As soon as his initial assessment was made he sat down beside the crying girl and scooped her into his lap. Her knees were raw and bleeding, but nothing was broken. Next he moved his eyes up her body and that's when he saw her left arm hanging limply by her side. Gently he ran his hands over her arm causing her to scream all the louder. "Shh, shh, it's okay. We'll get you all fixed up, I promise. I'll make it all better," he soothed.

He gathered Katie into his arms and carried her to the car. He sped to the hospital as quickly as he thought was safe. How could he let this happen? He told Jo he would take care of her daughter; she trusted him, and he blew it. He was returning her daughter to her with a broken arm and torn up knees. He beat himself up all the way to the hospital.

He carried a still whimpering Katie into the ER bypassing the registration desk and took her straight up to x-Ray. He shot the films and examined them himself. It was a clean break that only needed to be set and casted. He paged Callie to an empty exam room settled Katie on the bed and flagged down a nurse, "Get me one milligram of morphine for an IM injection," he ordered.

"What patient?" the nurse asked.

"Uh.. She umm isn't registered yet," he stuttered realizing his error, "just get me the morphine and I'll take care of it," he pulled out his best angry Karev growl and scowl to cut off any argument. The young nurse scurried away. He turned to the little girl and softened, "Alright Katydid, you'll feel better in just a minute." He smoothed down her hair and rubbed her back pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Karev, what are you doing in here?" Callie said in surprise when she entered the room. The timid nurse right behind her. "Katie, what happened?" she gasped wide eyed seeing the girl.

"She jumped out of the swing and broke her arm," Alex explained quickly holding the x-Ray up for the ortho doctor to see. "It just needs to be set and a cast put on, right? I'm not missing anything am I?"

He handed over the picture and took the medicine from the nurse drawing it up into a syringe. "I have to give you a shot, Katie, I'm sorry. It's gonna hurt for a minute but then it will make all your pain go away, okay?" The little girl nodded and squeezed her eyes shut tight. Alex administered the shot and then soothed, "It's all done. You did great Katydid." He wiped the tears from her face.

"Where's Jo? Does she know?" Callie asked.

"No, she's in the middle of her intern exam," he shook his head emphatically, "she has to concentrate on that. She'll find out when it's over. It's fine. I can take care of this."

Callie held her hands up in front of her, "Okay, geez, I was just asking. And you're right, clean break." She sat down on a stool beside Katie and gently took the girl's broken arm, "Katie, I'm going to fix your arm, okay? It might hurt for just a minute." Once again she closed her eyes as tight as she could and she grit her teeth. Alex slipped his hand into her right one and let her squeeze it with all her might while Callie set her arm. "Okay, all done."

They let Katie choose what color of cast she wanted and got her all fixed up. By the time they were finished Jo had finished her test and texted Alex to find out where to meet up with him and Katie.

She flew into the room, "Katie, baby, are you okay?" She rushed to her daughter's side and lifted her up into her arms hugging her and stroking her hair.

"Hi, Mommy," the little girl groggily lifted her right hand in a lazy wave.

"She, uh, had some morphine; she's kind of out of it," Alex explained sheepishly.

"What happened?" Jo turned worried eyes to Alex.

He told her everything ending with, "I'm so sorry Jo. It happened so fast. I…"

She laid Katie down on the bed and approached Alex cutting him off by placing her finger over his mouth, "Shh, Alex. You don't have to apologize. I know you would never let Katie get hurt if you could help it. She's a kid; these things happen. It won't be the last time, whether I'm with her or you are or whoever is." She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a comforting hug. "It's okay, Alex. You're great with her."

He didn't know how much he needed her gentle understanding words and touch until that moment. He sighed, relaxing into her embrace. He finally let himself feel the stress of the whole day, and his knees almost buckled. Was this what it was like to be a parent? This constant worry, trying at every minute of the day to keep your kid safe. He knew already that Jo was an amazing and strong woman, but he had a whole new appreciation for her now. He spent just one day as Katie's caregiver as the person solely responsible for her, but Jo had been doing it for three years.

"You okay?" Jo asked looking up into Alex's eyes.

"Yeah, yeah I am," he nodded tilting his head down and capturing her mouth in a sweet kiss.

Jo picked Katie up into her arms and grabbed Alex's hand, "Come on, let's get out of here."


	18. Stay the Night

**Stay the Night**

Alex met Jo and Katie in the procedure room where they were waiting for him. "Today's the big day, Katydid. Are you ready to get that cast off?"

"Uh huh," the little girl twisted her arm back and forth in the cast trying to scratch it.

"And just in time for school," Jo added, "the whole summer wasted with that thing on your arm."

Alex raised his eyebrows at Katie, "School? It's already time for school," he was distracting her from the fact that he was getting ready to cut her cast off. When he saw her eyes flicker down to the saw in his hands he said, "Don't worry about this; it's not gonna hurt ya. Are you ready for school?"

"Uh huh," she said still unsure as she watched his every move closely. When he started cutting and she realized she was okay she giggled, "That doesn't hurt."

"I told ya," Alex winked.

"I getta go see my school today and say 'hi' to my teacher," Katie said, excitement in her voice, "Are you gonna come with us?" she asked looking to Alex.

"Not this time, sorry kiddo. I have to stay here and fix some other kids' boo boos. But maybe I'll see you later," he glanced up at Jo who nodded with a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "All done. Arm is as good as new," he said examining the now free limb. He handed Katie the cast and gave her a faux stern look, "Now, no more jumping out of swings, got it?"

"Got it," she promised with a giggle.

Alex walked his girls to the elevator. Jo turned to him as the door was opening, "So you're gonna stop by after work?"

"Yeah, I'll be there."

Jo took Katie to her new preschool and met the teacher Miss Garland. Jo was impressed with the classroom and the teacher and Katie couldn't be more excited to start school on the following Monday.

Walking Katie to her classroom on the first day of school, Jo was having second thoughts. She had wanted to start Katie in school because she knew it would be good for the inquisitive little girl. Katie was smart and was always wanting to learn new things. But now that the day had actually come, Jo wasn't so sure. She wasn't as comfortable with Katie being so far away as she thought she would be. It was a school, a safe place, she reasoned with herself.

When they got to the doorway, Katie tried to pull away from Jo and go find her desk. Jo held on to her hand tighter. "Mommy, I gots to go. I have my very own desk and new colors and lots of new friends to play with," she tried tugging away again, but Jo held fast.

"Dr. Wilson, is everything okay?" Miss Garland approached the mother and daughter.

"Hmm, uh yeah, yeah everything's fine," Jo snapped out of her trance. She knelt down beside Katie and hugged her close, a little tighter than usual. "Have fun, baby, and be good," she instructed her eager daughter. Katie skipped into the classroom turning once to blow her mom a kiss and give her a wave goodbye.

On her way back to her car, Jo tried to stamp down the fear that was gripping her chest. She knew she was being irrational and that Katie would be fine. It hadn't been so long since she left Katie with a babysitter while she was in class all day, so why was she so worried now to have her daughter not in the same building with her while she was at work. She couldn't just pop down to the daycare and look in on her now, but that wasn't really anything new. In the back of her mind she had a little nagging voice telling her it was because of Jason. She didn't want to give that voice any thought though. She had tried so hard to put him and all that he had done out of her mind. She had moved on and was in a good, safe place now.

Jo was on Dr. Torres's service, when she got back to the hospital and caught up with her, Callie asked, "How did it go? Were there tears?"

Jo gave a humorless chuckle, "A few… mine not hers. She was so excited. We met her teacher last week and school was all she could talk about all weekend. She's ready, I know that, and I know I did the right thing putting her in school now, but it's so hard. I hate that she's not here with me. I feel so helpless."

"Hey, she's fine," Callie put a comforting hand on Jo's back, "stop worrying." Jo took a breath and nodded grateful for the encouragement.

"You are a mother and a surgeon," Dr. Bailey, who had overheard the conversation chimed in, "so you want to control everything. You don't like it when something is out of your control, when you have to take something on faith and just trust something. But we can't hold our kids hands forever. There comes a time when they let go and we have to let them. And we have to take it on faith and trust that the situations we put them in are good and safe and for their best interest. From everything I have seen you are a good mother, so trust yourself. Know that you are doing the best for your daughter. Dr. Torres is right, she is fine and she will be fine. Let her go, let her grow." Before Jo could open her mouth to thank Dr. Bailey for her wisdom, the older doctor picked up her tablet, turned on her heel, and was gone.

Jo took Dr. Bailey's words to heart. The next day dropping Katie off at school was easier and the day after that easier still. The first week of school came and went, and Jo found herself and Katie enjoying dinner and movies at Alex's house on Friday night.

They stuffed themselves with pizza while Alex listened to Katie chatter on and on recounting her week at school. She had made new friends, but still liked playing with Sofi and Zozo more, she assured the adults. After dinner they binged on ice cream and popcorn while they watched Disney movies.

Part way through the second movie, Alex realized Katie was sound asleep. He nudged Jo and tilted his head in the little girl's direction, the two shared a smile. "You should stay here tonight," Alex broached the topic in a quiet voice, "She's sacked out and there's no sense in getting her back out… Besides it's time she starts getting used to it, don't you think?"

Jo sighed, "I know, I just.. I think I need to talk to her about it, or.." she trailed off.

"I'm not pushing," he shook his head turning to face Jo on the couch, "it's been great when she's been able to spend the night with Sofia or Zola, but I want you here… more often… And her too," he explained with a shrug.

Jo bit her bottom lip a smile pulling the corners up. He was being so honest, almost vulnerable admitting that. No one had ever wanted her and her daughter like he did. "We'll stay," she decided, "she's stayed here before; she'll be fine. I'll talk to her about us tomorrow."

Alex grinned and turned off the tv. He gently lifted Katie into his arms, "Let's get her to bed then." He carried her up to the guest room and tucked her into bed with Jo right behind him.

Jo leaned down and kissed Katie on the forehead and turned to leave the room, but hesitated, "I think for tonight I should sleep in here with her. I don't want her to wake up and be confused."

Alex nodded once and then crossed the short distance to where Jo was standing. He cupped the back of her neck, tilted his head down, and captured her lips in a lingering kiss. "Goodnight, Jo."

After borrowing a t-shirt from Alex, Jo crawled into bed beside her daughter. Katie stirred and then sat up, "Mommy?" she asked rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah baby, I'm right here."

"Where are we? I need to potty," the little voice whined.

"We are staying at Alex's house tonight," Jo told her and helped her out of bed walking her to the bathroom.

When they had settled back under the covers, Jo jumped right in, "Katie, we're going to be staying here more. Is that okay?"

"Mmhmm," the girl mumbled.

"And I'm sleeping in here with you tonight, but I'm gonna start sleeping in the big room with Alex.." she said. How do you have this conversation with a three year old? But how can she not? Katie had only ever known her and Jo sleeping together in the same bed. Jo sighed knowing she was making a mess of this.

Katie was quiet for a minute before piping up, "Like when I stay with Sofi Callie and Zona sleep together in the same bed, or when I stay with Zozo her mommy and daddy do?"

"Yeah, like that," Jo agreed.

"Okay," she laid back on her pillow, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and fell back asleep. Jo breathed out a sigh of relief thankful the idea wasn't completely foreign to the little girl and settled in for the night.

The next morning, Katie woke up, and seeing that Jo was still asleep she quietly slid out of bed. She carefully made her way down the stairs holding on tight to the wall. She toddled into the kitchen and turned in a slow circle. Her tummy was growling, but how was she going to get to the food?

Before she could form a plan, Cristina found her, "Mini hairball, how did you get down here?"

Katie whipped around, "Hi Dr. Cristina. I'm hungry, but Mommy is sleeping."

"Well, let's see what we can get you to eat," she rummaged through the cabinets finding a box of poptarts, "how about one of these?" she held the pastry up to show the girl.

"Okay," Katie shrugged. Cristina put two poptarts in the toaster and then located Katie's sippy cup by the sink. She pulled the milk carton from the fridge and sniffed it. Satisfied that it hadn't gone bad she poured some in the cup. "Dr. Cristina, did you know Alex is my mommy's boyfriend?" Katie asked as she crawled up in a kitchen chair.

"Uh, yeah, I kinda gathered that," Cristina answered.

"Is a Mommy's boyfriend like a Daddy?" the girl asked with a serious look on her face.

"Umm well, I guess he can be sometimes, maybe," Cristina said getting more uncomfortable with each question.

"Do you think Alex can be like a Daddy for me?" Katie continued getting to the point.

Relief washed over Cristina when she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs. Thank goodness, let Alex handle this. "Oh, it's you," she groaned seeing Owen round the corner into the kitchen.

"Well, good morning to you too," he kissed her on the top of the head as he passed by.

The toaster popped up and Cristina grabbed the hot pastries glad for the interruption. She put one on a paper towel and carried it and the sippy cup into the living room. She put them down on the coffee table and found cartoons on tv. "Katie, breakfast is in here," she called. The little girl had already followed her and sat down in front of her food. "Careful, it's hot," Cristina instructed before heading back to the kitchen.

Jo woke up to an empty place beside her in bed. She got up and went in search of Katie. She made her way into the kitchen squinting against the bright lights. "Hairball," Cristina greeted her. Jo spun around tugging her shirt down when she noticed Owen sitting beside Cristina at the table. "If you wanna do the nasty with Evil Spawn that's your business, but I'm not your babysitter."

Jo looked at her confused, "I don't know what you're talking about." Cristina pointed to the living room. Jo turned her gaze to follow and saw Katie munching on a poptart giggling at something on the tv. "Thank you," Jo mumbled as the obvious events of the morning clicked in her head. She sat down on the couch next to where Katie was kneeling on the floor, "Morning baby girl," she kissed her head, "Did you sleep good?"

"Uh huh," Katie answered eyes never leaving the screen.

"Do you need anything?" When the girl shook her head, Jo stood up, "Okay, I'm gonna run upstairs and get dressed."

She tapped lightly on Alex's bedroom door before pushing it open and stepping into the darkness. She grinned seeing Alex sprawled out on his stomach and crawled into the bed next to him. She traced her fingers up his arm and kissed his bare shoulder. "Hmm," he hummed burying his face in the pillow. She scratched her fingers through his hair waiting for him to fully wake up. Finally, he rolled over on his back and blinked up at Jo, "Hey."

"Morning," she pecked his lips. "So I, uh, talked to Katie last night. She woke up when I was getting into bed, so I don't really know if she remembers our conversation. But I told her we would be staying here more often… And that I would be sleeping in here with you."

He cracked an eye open, "Oh yeah? How'd she take it?"

"She was fine with it, actually, compared it to Callie and Arizona and Meredith and Derek. That kid is more observant than I give her credit for," she shook her head in disbelief.

"Mm, that's good," he mumbled wrapping his arms around her and pulling her down onto his chest resting his cheek on the top of her head.

"She's downstairs eating breakfast and watching Saturday morning cartoons. I told her I'd be back down after I got dressed. I should go," she started to get up.

Alex tightened his arms around her not letting her up, "Just a few more minutes."

Jo sighed and settled back down pressing a kiss to his chest, "Okay, a few more minutes."


	19. One Step Closer

**One Step Closer**

Alex dropped his tray down on the table occupied by Meredith and Cristina. They stopped talking and looked up at him curiously as he slumped in the chair across from Cristina. "What?" Meredith asked.

"Nothing, just eatin lunch," he mumbled taking a big bite of his cheeseburger.

"O-okay then," she said turning back to Cristina and picking up their conversation once again.

When the two women fell silent, Alex blurted out, "I'm going to ask Jo to move in with me. I just thought you should know," he addressed his roommate.

"Okay," she shrugged, indifferent.

"Okay," he repeated firmly with a nod.

"What's the big deal?" she questioned, "She's there all the time anyway; she's fine, and the kid is actually pretty cool."

"Hey," Meredith protested with a pout, "you don't ever call my kids cool."

Cristina rolled her eyes, "You know I like your kids, Mer."

Ignoring the two bickering women, Alex disputed, "They're not there _all_ the time."

"Whatever," Cristina flicked her hand dismissing her two friends' arguments. She gathered the trash from her lunch and walked away.

"So... Moving in together?" Meredith quirked a brow at Alex.

"Yeah," he replied confidently, "I want them with me." It wasn't lost on Meredith how he always included Katie. It wasn't, 'I want her with me''; it was 'them' and 'they'. She couldn't help being a little bit proud of who he had grown up to be. She would have never imagined it when they had first met. "Hey, Mer," Alex interrupted her musings, snapping his fingers to get her attention. When she refocused on him he asked, "What are you doing this afternoon?"

"I've got a lap chole at one, but I'm pretty much free after that. Why? What's up?"

"I need some help picking stuff out for Katie's room. I thought maybe you and Zola could come shopping with me," he drug a french fry back and forth through the puddle of ketchup on his plate.

"Sure," she chirped with enthusiasm, "it'll be fun." She got up from the table and walked away shaking her head, still amazed at the man that cocky, insolent intern had become.

After hours spent in multiple stores choosing paint colors, curtains, bedding and furniture, Alex was exhausted. He unloaded everything into the garage for the night and grabbed his phone to call Jo. Just as he picked it up, it chimed with a message from her. She and Katie were just sitting down to dinner and would love it if he would join them if he wasn't busy. Grinning, he scooped up his keys, his fingers flying across the screen letting Jo know he was on his way.

He made it to her apartment in record time. He knocked on the door and then pushed it open letting himself in. Jo hopped up from the table and greeted him with a kiss to which Katie turned up her nose. "Hey there, Katydid, did you have fun at school today?" he ruffled her hair as he sat down. Katie had been in school now for a couple of months and was loving it.

The little girl nodded before swallowing and launching into a detailed description of her day. Jo filled a plate for Alex and set it in front of him allowing her hand to linger on his back. This is what he wanted everyday. The three of them sharing meals around the table talking about their days. Two, dare he think it, parents tucking their child or children, a smile tugged at his lips and his heartbeat quickened, into bed. Waking up together, and starting the day together. Everything he had missed growing up; everything Jo had missed growing up. A happy, stable family.

Alex washed the dishes while Jo gave Katie a bath, then they met up to read a bedtime story. Katie chose a book and crawled up in Alex's lap. Jo snuggled into his side and started reading. Katie was sound asleep by the end of the book. Alex gently laid her in bed, covered her up, and kissed her forehead. Jo took her turn kissing her daughter's cheek, and they quietly left the room.

Back in the living room, Alex pulled Jo down on his lap on the couch. He wrapped his arms tight around her waist and sought out her lips. They kissed for several minutes before breaking apart. Alex rested his forehead against hers and stared down into her eyes. He was overwhelmed by the feelings of home and family that rushed over him when he was with this woman and her daughter.

She steadily held his gaze, "Are you okay?" she searched his eyes.

"Yeah," he said honestly, "I've never been better." Her face lit up and she broke out in a grin sensing the deep meaning behind his words and feeling the same way.

Alex woke up early the next morning to get started on Katie's room. The room was pretty barren only holding the bed and small dresser he had bought when Jo and Katie had stayed with him in the wake of the Jason debacle. He moved that furniture to the garage and laid down tarps so he could paint.

The day passed quickly for Alex. Before he knew it he heard the front door open and Jo's voice call up the stairs, "Alex? Are you here?"

He glanced down at his watch as he left the bedroom closing the door behind himself. He was just putting the finishing touches on the room and thought he would have had time to shower before he needed to leave to go pick up Jo, but apparently she had other plans. "Hey, I thought I was picking you up," he padded down the stairs in stockinged feet.

"I know, but once I dropped Katie off at Callie's," she shrugged, "your place is closer. I missed you today," she met him at the bottom of the stairs and wrapped her arms around his neck, "so I thought I would surprise you and show up here… I hope that's okay?" she added unsure.

"Yeah, of course," he brushed his lips against hers, "I just… I'm not ready yet."

"I see that," she said pulling back slightly and studying him, noting the purple flecks in his hair and the smudge of purple across his left cheek. "What are you… Are you.. painting?"

He blushed under her scrutiny. "Umm, yeah, actually," he stammered, "I uh..it was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to.. Well just come see," he grabbed her hand and led her upstairs and into the newly decorated room.

Jo gasped taking it all in. She turned in a circle not missing a thing. The walls were now a light purple with big white daisies stenciled on two of them, a white bedroom set filled the room, there was a purple rug on the floor, and a corner of the room was sectioned off with curtains that were pulled back to reveal a beanbag chair, bookcase, and lamp, creating the perfect reading nook. The bed was covered with a white quilt embellished with purple butterflies and daisies and over the bed 'Katie' was stenciled in white. "Alex, it's...it's beautiful. This is amazing," she breathed, tears filling her eyes.

"Mer and Zola helped me out. Zo insisted Katie needed a room just like this."

"It's great, but.."

"I want you to move in with me," he stood in front of her, "I was going to take you out to dinner tonight and ask you. Bring you and Katie over tomorrow and show you both. But you're here now, and I can't go out like this," he indicated the paint splattering his body.

"She's gonna love it," Jo said eyeing the room once again, "she'll feel so grown up having her very own room, just for her."

Alex's breath caught and his eyes narrowed, "Does that mean…?" he tried not to get his hopes up.

Jo cupped his face, "Yes, we'll move in with you," she sealed it with a kiss.

Jo decided she would rather stay in, so while Alex was in the shower, she ordered takeout from a place not too far away. When she heard the water turn off she wandered into the bathroom. Alex was standing in front of the steamy mirror with a towel around his waist preparing to shave. "Don't bother," Jo stopped his hand, "we're not going out; I ordered in. Besides, I like the stubble," she rubbed the back of her fingers down his scruffy cheek with a lusty glint in her eye. He caught her hand and pulled her in for a kiss, only to be interrupted by the doorbell. They groaned in unison, "I guess _I_ better get that," she smirked side eyeing the towel he had on.

"My wallets on the dresser," he followed her into the bedroom to get dressed.

Jo grabbed a couple of beers from the fridge and brought everything up to Alex's room. "I've heard of breakfast in bed, but.." Alex shook his head giving her a weird look.

"Shut up! It's fine," she sat cross legged on the end of the bed, the food spread out in front of her. He just shrugged and joined her grabbing an egg roll.

"So, is tomorrow too soon to start moving your stuff in?" Alex asked as they munched on their supper.

"Uh-uh," she chuckled at his eagerness. "I can't wait for Katie to see her room."

"Is she gonna be okay with all this? It's not too soon or anything?"

"She's going to be thrilled," she assured him. "Alex, she loves you; she loves spending time with you. In fact, sometimes she gets mad at me when I tell her I'm spending time alone with you," she laughed, and he cracked a smile.

"Okay," he nodded, sure they were doing the right thing. A comfortable silence settled over them as they finished eating. Jo was clearing away what was left of their meal when out of the blue Alex asked, "Do you ever think about having another?"

She froze briefly before playing off the question, "What? egg roll?" she held one up taking a bite.

He rolled his eyes and groaned, "Jo!"

She dropped the egg roll and slowly licked her fingers, stalling, "You just asked me to move in with you; are you asking me to have a baby with you now too?" her voice was quiet and her eyes cast down at the bed.

"What!? No! Jo, no!" he cried emphatically, eyes wide realizing what she thought. He shook his head, "I'm not. Not now… I just… Wow, I just wondered if you ever thought about it," his cheeks reddened furiously as he stumbled over his words.

The room went silent again as Jo finished cleaning up. They took some deep breaths and some time to let their erratic heartbeats return to normal. Alex was sitting on the edge of the bed when Jo returned from putting the leftovers in the fridge. She got on the other side of the bed crawling over to him and sitting on her knees behind him. She reached around to hand him another beer. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. "I would like to have another kid someday, at least one, with the right man, when the time is right."

He turned his head to look at her with raised eyebrows, "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said settling back against the headboard and patting the spot beside her. "After all the first one has turned out pretty good so far."

He scooted beside her putting his arm around her shoulders. He offered her his beer bottle, "I would like to have kids of my own someday too. Ya know, when the time is right, with the right woman. That's not to say I wouldn't love someone else's kid just as much as my own though," he added, causing her heart to flutter.

Jo slung her arm across the front of Alex, kicked her leg over his, and laid her head on his chest. "So, you decorated a whole room for Katie, what do I get?" she asked lightening the deep emotion in the room, not ready to linger there.

Alex laughed, "Half the closet and dresser drawers, and I was gonna clear a shelf for you in the bathroom. Oh and best of all, you get to share your room with me now," he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Hmm, we may have to work out some kind of compromise on the closet and bathroom, but I like that last part about sharing a room with you," she straddled his lap wrapping her arms around his neck. "You know what's even better?" she asked between kisses.

"Hmm?"

"I get to share a bed with you," her voice was low and husky in his ear.

They spent most of their free time over the next few days packing up Jo's apartment and moving her and Katie to Alex's house. Katie loved her room so much they almost had to drag her out of it sometimes. She was beyond happy when Jo told her they would be living with Alex. She wouldn't say it to anyone, but in her mind, she was one step closer to having a daddy. She didn't know how or when someone became a daddy, but she was sure Alex was gonna be her daddy.


	20. Taken Care Of

**Taken Care Of**

Jo woke up to the sound of little taps on the bedroom door and a whined, "Mo-oommy."

She sat up rubbing her eyes, "What do you need, baby? C'mere."

The little girl pushed the door open and hurried to her mother's side. She was clutching her stuffed otter she had gotten when Alex took them to the zoo, and she had her thumb firmly planted in her mouth. She raised her arm up to her mother wanting to be picked up. Jo knew something was wrong as soon as she saw her daughter. Katie's eyes were glossy and she hardly ever sucked her thumb anymore. She reached down lifting the girl into her lap pressing a kiss to her forehead, she immediately noticed how hot the soft skin felt.

Jo groaned carrying Katie to the bathroom in search of a thermometer. Her mind instantly flew back to their first few months in Seattle when Katie was battling the periodic fever disease. She thought that was behind them; she thought it had been cured when Alex had operated on Katie. The thermometer beeping drew her back to the present. 101.6. She sighed digging in the cabinet for the children's Tylenol.

Katie laid her head on Jo's shoulder refusing to get down and refusing to eat any breakfast. Jo bit back her fear fighting the urge to wake Alex up. She knew there were literally hundreds of other explanations for Katie's fever, but she couldn't help the irrational thoughts running through her head.

Alex got up surprised to find Jo on the couch with Katie laying in her lap, "What are you still doing here? Don't you have to work today?"

"Katie is sick. Steph's gonna cover for me today so I can stay home."

Alex raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? I can get Arizona to take my surgeries and stay home with her." He felt Katie's head.

"Nah it's okay. Steph owes me one," she shrugged off his offer. "She has a fever, Alex, what if the PFAPA is back?" fear crept into her voice.

"Don't, Jo," he shook his head, "She's a little kid; kids get sick, and it is flu season," he reasoned.

"She had the flu shot," Jo argued.

"Come on, you're a doctor, we both know that doesn't always work. And listen to her, you can hear how congested she is. That never happened with it before. It's probably the flu or a sinus infection. I'll bring a swab home tonight we'll figure it out. She'll be better before you know it," he reassured her.

Two days later, Alex nudged Jo attempting to wake her as her alarm was going off, "Jo, get up you gotta get ready for work."

"Ugh… I don't feel good… I just need five more minutes," she coughed slapping the snooze. It had been confirmed the day before that Katie was infected with influenza B, and Alex knew right away that Jo was coming down with it too. Katie was still sick and Alex had planned on staying home to take care of her; it looked like he was going to have two patients today. He reached over Jo and turned her alarm off, called the hospital to let them know Jo wouldn't be in, and went to the medicine cabinet for the thermometer and Tylenol.

"I don't wanna eat. I don't feel good," Jo whined at lunch time.

Alex rolled his eyes and handed her a bowl of soup, "You sound just like your daughter," he smirked. This was more than he had bargained for. Between the mother and daughter he was constantly up fetching something for one of them, and one of them was always coughing, sneezing, or whining… So much whining. He got it, no one liked to be sick and they felt really awful, but come on. It had taken quite a bit of convincing to get Jo to agree to stay home and then to get her to give in and let him take care of her, but as the day wore on and she felt worse she depended on him more and more.

After they had finished eating, which mostly consisted of taking a few sips of soup each, Alex laid Katie on the couch with Jo. He covered them up with a blanket and kissed each of them on the forehead. They were both sound asleep in minutes. Taking advantage of the break, Alex picked up used discarded kleenexes and restocked the coffee table with cough drops, Tylenol, and flu symptom relief medicines. He sat back in his chair, kicked his feet up, and turned the tv on making sure to keep the volume low.

Alex returned home after work a few days later to find Jo upright on the couch. "Hey," he smiled kissing the top of her head and dropping beside her, "you look like you're feeling better."

"Yeah, I almost feel human again," she chuckled.

"Good."

"How did you keep from getting sick anyway?" she asked side eyeing him. He had spent two days nursing her and Katie and shared the house with them.

"Don't know," he shrugged rubbing her foot with his.

"Well anyway, thanks for taking care of us," she laid her head on his shoulder. "And keeping me calm," she added as an afterthought. "When Katie got sick I couldn't separate it from what we went through before. All those fears came rushing over me again."

"Where is Katie?" he glanced around.

"She is feeling much better and is up in her room playing."

They made their way to the kitchen and worked together to fix supper. They ate a light meal and spent some time playing with Katie and then reading to her and putting her to bed.

As they were getting ready for bed themselves, Jo once again opened up to Alex, "I hate feeling helpless, ya know? Especially when it comes to my kid. And that's how I felt before, when we first moved here, and she started having those fevers. I couldn't do anything to make them better, and I didn't know what was wrong with her. It was awful," she slipped into a baggy t-shirt and crawled into bed. "I felt those same feelings again the other day when she woke up sick. It was crazy I know, and it could have been so many other things, but I was right back in the same place again. I had no idea it had affected me so badly," she curled into his side when he got in beside her.

Alex stayed silent letting her talk her feelings out. He wrapped his arm around her stroking her side and tangled his legs with hers.

She sighed, "I hadn't felt that, that helpless feeling in years," a far off look came over her as she remembered. "I felt it when she was first born. I had never been around a baby before. I read everything I could get my hands on, but that's never enough. I studied every move those nurses made the first days while I was in the hospital. And even still, when I took her home I had no idea what I was doing," a sad laugh rumbled in her chest. Alex pulled her closer unsure what to say so he just let her continue rambling. "We got along alright, I guess," she sighed, "I second guessed everything I did, but Katie seemed happy enough and healthy. But her first doctor's appointment she was crying so much; I couldn't calm her down. The nurse took her from my arms, and I still don't know what she did, but Katie calmed down right away. I felt awful. I couldn't even console my own baby…" her words drifted off.

"I'm sure it's that way with all new moms," Alex finally found his voice, desperate to lift her spirits, "and you obviously figured it out. You are an amazing mother. Katie is lucky to have you. She's a great kid, Jo."

"Thanks," she said quietly looking up at him through her lashes, "You've been so good with her from the very beginning. No learning curve for you," she added timidly.

He chuckled, "I've had a few years of practice. Being a pediatrician kinda gives you a certain comfort level around kids," he winked, then added more seriously, "And you know, I did take care of my brother and sister when they were little."

"They were lucky to have _you_ ," she returned his compliment, "I've never been taken care of the way you take care of me...of us."

Silence settled in the room. They were both lost in their own thoughts and tender feelings about the other. They knew they had never had anything like what they had right now. They fell asleep more content than they had ever been.


	21. Normal Family Christmas

**Normal Family Christmas**

"Alex! You come to get me today!" Katie ran over to him her pink backpack slapping against her back.

"I did. Your mommy is in a surgery with Cristina, so you're stuck with me," he winked leading her to his car. "Did you have fun in school today? Did ya learn anything?" he buckled her into the backseat.

"Uh huh," she nodded. "Hey, guess what," Katie called from the backseat as Alex started the car.

"What?" he glanced in the rearview mirror.

"We havin a Christmas p-pageant, and we gonna sing songs and Miss Garland is gonna read a Christmas story and we getta play it, and and then we get cookies and Miss Garland said Santa is gonna come when we all done," she finally took a breath.

"Wow! That sounds like alotta fun," Alex widened his eyes giving her a look of excitement.

"Uh huh," she said gearing up for her next discourse, "I get to wear a pretty new Christmas dress and shiny shoes. I think Mommy will buy me one," she added as an afterthought. "And all the mommies and daddies get to come watch. And you can come too 'cause I don't have a daddy. You can be like my daddy."

Alex's breath caught and his eyes snapped up to meet hers in the rearview mirror as he pulled into the hospital parking lot. "Really?" Her words tugged at his heart.

"Uh huh," she unbuckled herself and waited for him to come around to the back of the car and open the door. She hopped out and grabbed his hand looking up at him, "Will you? Will you come to the pageant and be like my daddy?"

He knelt down in front of her brushing the curls back from her face. The vulnerable look in her eyes pulled at his heart once again. "I wouldn't miss it for the world," he promised. A bright smile lit Katie's face. Alex kissed her nose and stood up, "Come on, Katydid, let's get inside." He dropped her off in the daycare, "I'm almost done for today, and then I'm getting outta here. Your mommy will be a little later; do ya wanna come home with me or wait for Mommy?"

The little girl put her finger to her lip, thinking, "I go home with you," she decided.

He nodded, "Alright, I'll be back in a little while, and I bet your mommy comes down to see you just as soon as she can."

Meredith had been down in the daycare visiting Zola and Bailey, and she walked out with Alex. "You all are becoming quite the little family, aren't you?" she observed pride beaming on her face.

"Yeah, I guess we are," he agreed a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

He stopped by the cardiac icu on his way to the pediatric floor. He knew that's where he would find Jo if she was out of surgery. He spotted her typing on a tablet at the nurses' station. He sidled up to her at the desk and bumped her shoulder with his. She finished the note she was making and closed the patient chart laying the tablet aside before turning to him, "Hey."

"Your daughter is safely deposited in daycare," he informed her.

"Thank you, Alex. I couldn't do this without you," she stood up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

"You could. You could do anything you set your mind to, but I'm happy to help," he pulled her in for an affectionate side hug.

"Eww, get a room you two," Cristina snarked as she passed by, "I moved out so I wouldn't have to see you all over each other all the time."

Alex rolled his eyes ignoring his friend, "I've got one more surgery and then I'm heading home. Katie said she'd like to go with me, if that's alright."

"Mhmm, that's fine. I should be home a little after seven."

That night Katie told her mommy all about the preschool Christmas pageant over dinner. While Alex and Jo were getting ready for bed, he leaned against the vanity facing her while she brushed her teeth. "All Katie's talk about Christmas and Santa got me wondering, what do you usually do for Christmas?"

She spit and rinsed her mouth before answering with a shrug, "Nothin special. Last year we had a small tree and I got her a couple presents. And we did stockings of course." She turned out the bathroom light as they moved to the bedroom and got in bed lying on their sides facing each other. "What about you?"

Alex rubbed a hand down his face, "Honestly, it's been years since I've really celebrated Christmas."

A sad look passed over her face, "What about when you were a kid? Don't you have any happy Christmas memories?"

"Yeah, I guess," it was his turn to shrug now, "We didn't do anything special either. Same as you, tree, presents, stockings. We never had much. All our money went to buying my dad's drugs or to his music." Jo reached over to stroke his cheek sympathetically. He caught her hand kissing her palm, "I just think we should do something to make it special for Katie. She deserves that."

"What were you thinking?"

"I have no idea," he chuckled, "Until she brought it up, I hadn't even thought about Christmas. We need to get a tree, a big one. We can go to a Christmas tree farm and cut it down ourselves. And milk and cookies for Santa, every kid should do that. And I don't know, just all the things normal families do for Christmas."

Jo giggled at the building excitement in his voice, "Okay, so we need to find a normal family and ask them about their traditions," she joked.

He gave her a sarcastic smirk and rolled his eyes, "I'm just saying…"

"No, no, no," she cut him off, "I'm teasing. It sounds perfect," she assured him moving in for a kiss.

Jo took Katie shopping for a new dress and shoes. After making stops in multiple stores, some more than once, and an hour and a half, Katie finally chose 'just the right one'. After insisting she should try it on, she twirled in front of the dressing room mirror and didn't want to take it off.

Jo had an idea and sent Alex a text message to meet them in the food court. Grabbing a pretzel and a drink she found a table where they could wait, already anticipating Alex's grumpy face at having been summoned to the mall.

He found them and hurried over, and just as predicted, he didn't look happy at all. "What? I know nothing about buying dresses."

"Hello to you too," Jo sassed as he tore off a piece of her pretzel.

Before Jo could fill Alex in on why she'd asked him to come, Katie piped up, "Alex! Look at my new dress," she reached for the plastic bag draped across the chair next to her.

"Uh uh," Jo grabbed her hand, "Your hands are covered in cinnamon and butter. You are not touching that dress. We can show Alex when we get home." The little girl pouted but obeyed her mother licking the sticky sweetness from her fingers.

"So what exactly am I doing here?" Alex asked looking around at all the people with a scowl.

"Well, if we're going to have a 'normal family Christmas', we're going to need ornaments for our huge tree you plan on cutting down, and decorations for the house, and _somebody_ needs a stocking," Jo gave him a pointed look.

"So, why d'ya need me?" he shrugged.

"We're doing this as a family, Alex. That's what you wanted, wasn't it?"

"Fine, you're right that's what I wanted, but I didn't know it meant shopping. I hate shopping," he whined.

"Too bad," Jo scooped up Katie's dress and helped her daughter down out of her seat. "You ready to go buy all kinds of Christmas pretties?" she asked Katie making her voice light and happy.

The night of Katie's Christmas pageant, Jo rushed into the house, "I'm home," she called, "Katie, baby, we're gonna have to hurry or we'll be late." She had gotten caught up at the hospital later than she was supposed to and now she didn't have much time to get Katie ready.

"It's okay, Mommy, I ready," the little voice answered from the living room.

Jo stepped into the room and tears sprang to her eyes when she saw the tender scene. Alex was dressed in a button down dress shirt and slacks, Katie was beautiful in her silky green Christmas dress with the most intricate braid Jo had ever seen woven in her hair, and Alex was putting the finishing touches on, buckling her shoes. Just like a real daddy, she thought fighting to keep her composure.

"Alex?" she gasped, watery eyes wide and hand to her mouth.

He shrugged and looked away sheepishly a slight tinge of pink staining his cheeks, "I used to get my sister ready for school everyday. It's no big deal. Somebody had to get her dressed, and I was here."

Jo crossed the room and threw her arms around his neck, "Thank you," she whispered kissing him.

"You better go change, or we _will_ be late."

Jo studied Katie's hair as she helped the little girl with her coat. She glanced up meeting Alex's eyes, "Her hair, how did you do that?"

He cleared his throat and busied himself with his keys as he ushered Katie and Jo outside, "Amber wanted a braid every damn day. I guess I got pretty good at 'em."

The Christmas pageant didn't exactly go off without a hitch, being a group of preschoolers and all, but it was cute and the parents all loved it. The children sang a couple of songs and then their teacher, Miss Garland, read 'The Night Before Christmas' while the kids acted out parts of it. They finished by singing 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' and shouting, "Merry Christmas, everyone!" Then came the kids favorite part, cookies and Santa. Each child got to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted to find under their tree.

The next day, the three trudged through a Christmas tree farm on the hunt for their perfect tree. Jo rolled her eyes as they passed on one tree after the next. It was the Christmas dress fiasco all over again, but this time Alex was a party to it too. Alex and Katie would stand back and study each tree finding something wrong with every single one.

Finally, finally, they found it. Alex chopped it down and the farm owner helped him load it in Owen's pickup that Alex had borrowed for the occasion. They got the tree home and Alex proudly set it up in the corner of the living room. After lunch, Jo turned on Christmas carols and they decorated the tree and the house. Alex handed the star to Katie and lifted her up to crown the tree. He stood back with Katie still in his arms and put his other arm around Jo. They admired their work with satisfaction.

Jo was supposed to work on Christmas Eve, but Shane offered to take her shift when he found out Dr. Yang was going to be working. Alex was off, but was on call for Christmas Day. Alex, Jo, and Katie spent Christmas Eve watching movies in their pajamas. Jo and Katie made cookies to leave out for Santa. The day was as close to perfect as they could imagine. During the movies Katie kept drifting to the tree and shaking her presents begging to open 'just one'.

The next day Katie woke her mommy and Alex up early. She was delighted to see that Santa had eaten all of her cookies and left her a thank you note. They opened their presents amid Katie's happy shrieks and giggles.

Mid-morning, after they had eaten breakfast, Alex announced, "I'm going to go check on things at the hospital; I'll be back in a couple of hours."

He returned home to find that the early morning wake-up call had taken a toll on the girls. Katie was curled up with her blanket asleep on the floor and Jo was dozing on the couch. He smiled to himself as he moved quietly through the room. He retrieved Katie's empty, cast aside, stocking and gently placed a tiny black kitten inside. When trying to decide what to get Katie for Christmas, a random memory from the day Jason had tried to kidnap her raced through his mind. He remembered how taken she was with the kitten Jason had used to lure her over. And he thought that would be the perfect gift.

"Katie," he nudged the little girl waking her up. She sat up rubbing her eyes. "I think you missed something in your stocking," he pointed under the tree where the green and red sock lay moving ever so slightly.

She scurried over and opened it up squealing when she pulled the kitten out. Jo startled awake on the couch bolting up and looking around. She saw her daughter holding a squirming black kitten with her face squished up next to the cat's. She frowned at the beady green eyes and the little fleck of white on the nose. "A cat, Alex?" she looked at him incredulous.

"She loves it. She needs a pet," he defended.

"I hate cats," she grumbled.

Alex laughed plopping down on the couch next to her and pulling her close, "Look how happy she is."

They continued to cuddle on the couch and watch Katie play with her new kitten. "So, has it been everything you had imagined?" Jo asked referring to their Christmas holiday.

"It's perfect," he confirmed pressing a kiss to her head.


	22. While Mommy is Away

**While Mommy is Away**

Jo slowly woke up, and before she even opened her eyes a smile played across her face. She could sense him. "You're doing it again, aren't you?"

"Doing what?" Alex asked innocently, leaning forward to place a light kiss on her bare shoulder.

"Watching me sleep. You're so creepy," she teased finally prying her eyes open to meet his.

"Uh uh, I'll have you know, I just woke up, and I was taken by your beauty. I couldn't help myself," he ran his fingertips up her arm leaving goosebumps in their wake.

Rolling her eyes and pushing her unruly hair out of her face she laughed, "Oh please."

So, maybe he had been watching her, but it had only been for a minute or two. He would never get tired of waking up with her by his side. He lowered his head down claiming her lips in an eager kiss. She responded immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

"Mmmm," Jo purred forty minutes later when her alarm rang, "You can wake me up early for that any day." Alex smirked, untangling himself from her. Her good mood lasted only a moment though, before she remembered what the day would bring, "Ugh.. Don't make me go. I don't wanna go," she pouted like a child.

"What are you talking about?" he pulled the pillow she had just covered her face with off, giving her a confused look.

"The chief is sending all the second and third year residents to that medical conference in Portland. I told you about it. I'd rather be here, in the OR," she said hopefully.

"All the second and third years?" he mocked playfully, "Damn, who's gonna do all the grunt work." She huffed and smacked his shoulder. "It'll be fine really, Jo. You might actually learn something. And besides, you could use a night out with your friends. When's the last time you hung out and had a drink with any of them?"

It was true, she hadn't been out with her friends, well hardly at all since coming to Seattle, but, "I'd rather just be here with you and Katie."

Alex grabbed her hands and pulled her up out of bed and into his arms kissing her cheek, "I know, but make the best of it. We'll be fine, and we'll be here when you get home."

Jo was boarding a bus at Grey Sloan that morning that would take her and the other residents three and a half hours south to Portland, Oregon. They were scheduled to attend a two day medical convention.

Alex and Katie joined Jo at the bus to send her off. "Goodbye, Sweetie. You be good for Alex, okay?" The little girl nodded clinging to her mother's hand.

Alex noticed the anxiety written on Jo's face, "Stop worrying, we'll be fine," he insisted wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Right, kiddo?" he tousled Katie's hair.

"Uh huh," the girl agreed.

Jo gave a small smile while biting back tears. She had never been so far away from her daughter. It was only two nights, and she was in the best hands, but it was still hard to leave her. She glanced back at the bus as the last doctor was climbing on, "Well, I guess I better go," she said regretfully. She knelt down in front of Katie and pulled her into a tight hug.

When she stood back up, Alex pressed his lips to hers, "See ya Saturday. Try and have fun," he winked as she backed away to the bus. Katie waved until the bus was out of sight, and then Alex turned her around and led her back through the hospital doors, "Looks like it's just you and me now, Katydid."

"I miss Mommy," the little girl poked her bottom lip out.

"Hey now," Alex squatted down in front of her, looking her in the eye, "Mommy just left; you can't be missing her already." Tears brimmed Katie's eyes and she nodded her head, effectively arguing that yes she could be missing her mother, and she in fact was. Alex picked her up hugging her against himself and wiped her tears, "We're gonna have so much fun; it'll be Saturday, and Mommy'll be home before you know it." He carried her to the daycare door regretting having to leave her there alone when she was sad about Jo leaving. He set her feet down on the floor, "Are you okay? You wanna go in and play with your friends? Look, there's Sofia," relieved he pointed out her best friend. Katie waved and ran off to join the other little girl. Alex was grateful Sofia had been in daycare; he was able to go to work without worrying about Katie.

Katie was quiet that night as they drove home. Alex made her favorite macaroni and cheese for supper, but she pushed the food around on her plate barely eating half of what he had dished up for her. After they ate, Katie begged Alex to lay on the living room floor and color with her. As they colored the ponies in her book a rainbow of hues the little girl finally began to perk up and chatter. She really got excited when Jo made a FaceTime call to her and Alex.

After a bath and a story, Katie was asleep in minutes, or Alex thought she was, but as he lay in bed that night, flipping through a medical journal, he heard little footsteps plodding towards his room. Katie hesitated in the doorway not sure if she should call his name or not. He put the magazine aside and sat up peering to the door, "C'mere, Katydid," he waved her in, "What's the matter? Can't sleep?"

"Uh uh," she stuck her thumb in her mouth, an action he hadn't seen in quite awhile, "I miss Mommy."

The little girl had spent the night away from Jo before. She slept over with Sofia and Zola more than a few times, but here at home she didn't have her friends to distract her and she'd never stayed at home without her mother. "I have an idea," Alex said lifting her up into the bed, "How about you sleep right here in your mommy's spot, right on her pillow. I bet it even smells like her."

She snuggled into her mommy's side of the bed, Alex pulling the covers up tight over her, and sniffed the pillow, a small smile lighting her face when indeed it did smell like Jo. Already her eyelids were getting heavy when she muttered in a drowsy voice, "I love you, Alex."

Alex couldn't stop the goofy grin that spread across his face, he had seldom heard more beautiful words; they only compared to when Jo had uttered the same words. "I love you too, baby," he brushed a kiss to her forehead. His heart felt so full he thought for sure it would burst. After watching Katie sleep peacefully for a few quiet moments, Alex grabbed his phone; he had to tell Jo. He couldn't keep it to himself. He shot off a text message, "Our little Katydid told me she loved me tonight".

Perched at a table in a Portland bar with her friends, Jo squealed out loud, earning quizzical looks from the others. Ignoring them, because they would never understand the significance of the moment, she replied to his message sporting a matching grin to his.

Alex unlocked his phone and opened his messages to find a screen full of heart eyed emojis.

The next morning Alex woke up to an unforecasted late winter snowstorm. There was eighteen inches of shimmery white powder covering everything. He planned a full day of fun for Katie, starting with making chocolate chip pancakes together. When Jo called to check in that morning, their images popped up on her screen, and she couldn't stop the giggle at the flour dusting their hair and faces. It eased her mind to see them seemingly enjoying themselves. She had been so worried about Katie being so far away.

After breakfast and a quick kitchen clean up, Alex bundled Katie in her coat, mittens, and stocking cap, and the two went to play in the snow. They built a snowman and made snow angels. Alex took a video of Katie sledding down a hill on an empty lot in their neighborhood. He knew Jo would want him to capture every moment.

The two trudged hand in hand back to their own yard. "Alex, can we make a mama and a baby snowman to go with our daddy snowman?" Katie bounced on her toes looking up at him eagerly.

He glanced over at the snowman they made earlier and then down into her excited face, her eyes shining and cheeks rosy from the cold. "Yeah, start rolling," he grinned and started packing snow.

Cold and tired but happy, Alex and Katie finally went back inside to warm up. Alex made a pot of soup for lunch and they napped the afternoon away. They stayed inside the rest of the day building blanket forts, reading books, and playing ponies. After a supper of leftover soup, Alex started a fire in the fireplace and made s'mores. Katie was delighted with the treat and asked for more.

The medical conference ended that night. "Jo, come on," Stephanie called, "We're going to grab a bite to eat," she waved her friend over.

Jo looked up from her phone, "No, go ahead, I just booked a flight; I'm gonna go home tonight." The bus was leaving for Seattle in the morning, but she really just wanted to be home. Steph raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She couldn't believe Jo wasn't taking advantage of a little time to herself, but she knew it would be pointless to argue. Jo called a cab to take her to the airport for the late night, quick flight home.

She quietly let herself into the house. She looked around with wide eyes. The living room was a wreck, there were toys and blankets and dirty dishes scattered everywhere. Her face softened when she saw Alex reclined back in his chair with Katie curled up on his chest. They were both fast asleep as the credits to 'The Lion King' rolled. She stifled a giggle at the soft snores coming from the pair. She grabbed a blanket off the floor and covered them up giving each of them a soft kiss on the cheek. She turned the tv off and picked up another blanket for herself kicking off her shoes and laying down on the couch. She watched the embers dying in the fireplace and knew without a doubt this was her meant to be family. As she closed her eyes, drifting off with a smile on her face, the perfect plan played out in her mind. Her heart fluttered at the thought, but how was she ever going to wait to execute it?


	23. Daddy

**Daddy**

Jo rolled over onto her back, her eyes wide open in the dark room. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table and sighed. 6:15. He was going to kill her for waking him up so early, but she just couldn't wait anymore. Months had passed, and finally, the day she had been waiting for had come. She'd almost ruined her own plan a million times, ready to move their family forward.

She snuck out of bed and tiptoed down the hallway to Katie's room. Her lips curved up in a smile at the sight of her daughter peacefully slumbering. She crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. Softly she rubbed the girl's back in an attempt to wake her gently. Katie rubbed her eyes and looked up at her mama an argument on the tip of her tongue until, "Guess what today is," Jo said with quiet excitement, joy lighting her face.

Katie quickly sat up, "Father's Day?" she asked eyes wide and hopeful.

"Uh huh," Jo nodded, "Come on." Katie slid out of bed and all but ran to the master bedroom, Jo right on her heels.

Jo put her finger up to her lips as the two quietly entered the room. She crawled into bed beside Alex, careful not to disturb him, and lifted Katie up with her. He was sleeping on his stomach with his arms up by his head. Jo leaned down and whispered to Katie, "Just cover your ears and pretend like you don't hear Alex say any naughty words, okay?" The little girl nodded and obeyed.

Jo tickled her fingers across Alex's neck causing him to make a slapping motion at her hand, but not to fully awaken. She repeated the motion and he grabbed her hand pulling it away from his skin, "Damn it, Jo, what the hell?" he grumbled scrunching his eyes closed tighter.

She knew him so well, she giggled. "We have something for you," she explained.

At the word 'we', he finally opened his eyes and turned his head noticing Katie for the first time. The little girl was on her knees sitting beside her mother with what appeared to be a card thrust out towards him. He took the paper from her and opened it up. His heart almost stopped at the words scrawled in her little kid's handwriting: 'Happy Father's Day! I love you Daddy'.

"Awe, Katie," he said, voice thick with emotion. He held his arms out to her. The girl spent no time crossing the bed and launching herself into his lap hugging him tightly around the neck. He cleared his throat and wiped at his eyes, "I love you too, Katydid," he returned her embrace holding her close to his chest. "Did you make this for me?"

"Uh huh," she nodded her head where it rested in the crook of his neck, "Mommy helped me making the words. She showed me how and I writed them," she said proudly.

"Thank you," he turned his face towards her to place a kiss on her forehead.

Jo looked on, eyes glimmering with tears. She coughed quietly to clear her throat, "There's something else I wanted to say," she started hesitantly. Alex met her eyes giving her his full attention as Katie continued to cuddle in his lap. "I...it's just...well I," she took a deep breath and started over, "I've always hated this day. Growing up without a father of my own and then raising my child without one, I just hated it. But this year, I couldn't wait for it to get here. You epitomize what a father should be. No one has ever tried with Katie the way you have, not even her own dad, he doesn't even deserve to be called her dad," she rolled her eyes anger flashing, before regrouping and returning to her speech, "From the very first time you met.. before you ever met her actually," she remembered his concern for her daughter after she left work early to care for the sick child. "Before you ever met Katie, you showed concern for her. And when you first met her, you cared about her and connected with her. I could never tell you how much that means to me, to both of us. You have been a father figure to her since before we ever got together, back when we were just friends. And you've been an amazing one, at that, and now you are so much more than just a father figure; you are truly her daddy," he reached over and wiped a tear that had escaped from her eyes and opened his mouth to respond, but Jo cut him off, "There's more," she said with a shaky smile, "That's only one of the reasons I love you," he gave her a tender smile and his love for her was reflected in his eyes. "You have been so much for me, too. My best friend, my rock, always here for me no matter what. You opened my heart up to love again when I was ready to give up on men. I was sure there wasn't a good man out there for me; I always picked the wrong guy, but you changed that for me. You taught me that I do have worth and I do deserve a good man. And you are the best… The best man I could ever dream of, more than I ever thought I would have. And I love you and I love us…this," she gestured between the three of them, "this family we've become," and finally, "Alex, will you marry me?"

"And be my daddy?" Katie piped up from Alex's lap. She had waited and waited for her mommy to finish so she could say her part.

He didn't answer, instead he got up, placing Katie down on the bed by her mother, and went to the closet. "Alex?" Jo called after him anxiety clearly written on her face and ringing in her voice. He pulled a shoe box off the back corner of the shelf and grabbed something out, leaving the shoe box and the rest of its contents scattered on the closet floor.

Returning to the bed he held the black velvet box, propped open and displaying a diamond ring, out to Jo and simply said, "Yes!" Jo squealed and tackled him to the bed finding his lips and kissing him soundly. Their kisses slowed to loving pecks and soft nuzzles. Finally, Alex gently pushed Jo away murmuring, "We're not alone." The two adults looked over to where Katie sat staring down at the ring in the box that had fumbled out of Alex's hand.

The little girl was trying so hard to ignore her...parents. It was so icky when they kissed like that.

Alex rolled over onto his side facing Katie and waved her over, "Hey, c'mere, Katydid." The little girl eyed the two skeptically and then scooted towards him after deciding it would be okay, that they were done. Jo was sitting up on the bed beside Alex now and they were hardly even touching. "I said yes; I wanna be your daddy." He pulled the girl into a tight embrace kissing her head and smoothing back her unruly curls.

"Mommy said this means I get to call you Daddy now," she had been referring to him that way secretly in her head for months already.

"It sure does," he confirmed grinning at the newly bestowed title.

The three laid in bed talking and making plans. They threw out vague wedding ideas and more concrete ideas for Katie's upcoming birthday on Friday. The soon-to-be four year old wanted to have her very very best friends Sofi and Zozo over to play and spend the night and eat lots and lots of cake and ice cream.

Somewhere during the mid-morning hours, they all drifted back off to sleep. Jo woke up around noon and made her way to the kitchen. She made them a brunch in bed consisting of eggs, bacon, and french toast.

Word of the engagement spread quickly through the hospital over the next couple of days. Alex's friends couldn't have been happier for him. He had journeyed a long and bumpy road to find his happily ever after, and they truly believed Jo and Katie were it for him. So it wasn't hard to convince Cristina to watch Katie for the night so he could take Jo out to celebrate their engagement. She grumbled about it, of course, but deep down everybody knew she held a soft spot for the little girl.

So on Tuesday evening after work, Alex stopped by the residents locker room to pick Jo up. He was waiting just outside the door for her when Stephanie blew past him. "Hmm, your man cleans up pretty good," she hummed to Jo. "And you don't look too bad yourself," she complimented as she zipped Jo's dress for her.

"Thanks, Steph," Jo breathed slipping into her strappy black heels.

Alex whistled low taking in Jo's beauty as she stepped out to meet him. She was dressed in a sleeveless black dress with a black lace overlay. The dress hit her mid-thigh and had a plunging back. Her hair was down and curled and she had added a touch more makeup. "You look," he shook his head appreciatively, "you're stunning."

She smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek in greeting, "And you, Dr. Karev, are very handsome," she wiped the trace of lipstick she had left on his cheek off and twined her fingers with his as they turned to leave the building.

He brought her to an intimate Italian restaurant where they were seated at a back corner table. Alex caught Jo staring at her ring in the candlelight, "Do you like it?"

She looked up blushing slightly at having been caught, "It's beautiful; I love it. When..?"

"I've had it for a few months," he answered, "I bought it shortly after Katie told me she loved me for the first time. After that," he shrugged, "I just knew. I was waiting for the right time to ask you, but you beat me to it," he winked.

"Sorry," she replied sheepishly.

"Don't be," he shook his head, "It was perfect."

They shared conversation about their days and their surgeries as they ate. When they were finishing up the decadent chocolate cheesecake they had shared, Alex cleared his throat, "I wanna adopt Katie," he said confidently, then added a little more unsure, "I mean, if that's okay with you."

Jo's hand fluttered to her chest and she blinked back tears, "Yes, of course, I want you to. I want that as much as I want you to marry me," she admitted, "I just.. I wasn't sure how to ask." Alex stood up and rounded the table pulling Jo up to her feet and into a hug.

Alex pulled out of the restaurant parking lot and turned the opposite direction of their house. Jo's eyebrows scrunched up in question, "Where are we going?"

Alex didn't respond, he only wiggled his eyebrows at her as if to say, 'you'll see'. Fifteen minutes later, fifteen minutes that had been filled with Jo alternatively begging Alex to tell her where they were going and her guessing where they were headed, he pulled up to the Archfield Hotel.

He rounded the car and after opening her door he plucked a duffel bag, she didn't know he had packed, out of the backseat. "Alex," she murmured in delighted surprise. They checked in and Alex guided Jo to the elevator and down the hall to their room with a gentle hand to her back.

She looked around in awe at the elegant suite he had rented for the night. They had an amazing view of the city, a hot tub, and a bucket of chilled champagne. She turned to him and threw her arms around his neck kissing him, "This is amazing, thank you."

"Thank you for wanting to spend the rest of your life with me," he smirked, "You have no idea what you're getting into."

They popped the cork on the champagne and Alex poured two glasses. With arms wrapped around each other, they toasted their future and the life and family they were building.


	24. Choices Made

**Choices Made**

Alex was finishing up his notes on a consult in the ER. He saved the file and closed out of the patient's chart. He was handing the tablet back to a nurse when he heard behind him, "I'm looking for Dr. Josephine Wilson." Alex's hand froze and he slowly turned to see the source of the voice. There was no mistaking the bright blue eyes, red hair, and determined set to the jaw. Alex had seen that look many times before, but on a different face. He knew immediately who was asking for Jo.

Janie, one of the nurses, made a move to grab the phone to page Jo. Alex held up his hand, "Dr. Wilson isn't working today. I've got this, thanks Janie."

The other man gave Alex a hard stare, "I need to see Dr. Wilson, and you're not her so…"

"Dr. Alex Karev," Alex stuck his hand out as he introduced himself, "her fiancé, and like I said, she's not here, so you can deal with me."

The redhead looked skeptical but shook Alex's hand wincing at his firm grip, "Levi McEvy. I'm.."

"I know who you are," Alex interrupted him again, "What I wanna know is why you're here. What do you want from Jo?"

"Well, that's between me and her," Levi replied, hostility sounding in his voice. He had a large Manila envelope clutched tightly in his hand.

Alex shook his head, "No, see how this is gonna work is, we're gonna go to my office and have a little talk about what exactly it is you are doing here, then I'll let Jo know, and she can decide if she wants to see you." Without waiting for an answer, Alex turned on his heel and headed toward the elevators that would take them up to the pediatric floor where his office was located.

Watching the whole exchange from a distance and recognizing Alex's defensive stance, Dr. Hunt stepped in, "Dr. Karev, why don't you take your guest into the conference room here," he ushered the two men into an empty room just off the ER. He didn't know what business the men had with each other, but it didn't look friendly, and Owen didn't want any trouble. Here he could keep an eye on the confrontation. He backed out of the room closing the door quietly behind himself, leaving Alex and Levi alone.

Alex glared at the redheaded man, "Why are you here? How did you find Jo?"

"I got papers to sign to terminate my parental rights. They came from a lawyer in Seattle. Wasn't hard to find her after that," he gave clipped answers.

"So sign the papers and send them back. Doesn't require a trip to see her," Alex responded menacingly, hands on his hips.

"Ah, see here's the thing, I don't know if I'm going to sign them. She shouldn't have taken my baby across the country. I have rights.."

Alex didn't let him finish, "Bull shit!" he spat stepping closer to Levi, "Jo told me everything. If you wanted to know your child, you shouldn't have walked out on Jo leaving her alone and pregnant. You have no rights to that kid."

"The law may see things differently," Levi argued.

"Are you freaking kidding me!? Four years. After four years of not knowing her, never seeing her, you just want to walk into her life and fuck it all up? Hell no! I'm not gonna let that happen."

Levi remained stoic though inside he was shaking, Alex could be a scary man when upset, and there was no doubt who would come out on top in a physical altercation between the two. "That's really not your decision to make," he said coolly, "Let me work this out with Jo."

Alex knew he had no choice, "Fine. Tomorrow morning at 9:00. She'll meet you here." He stormed out of the room letting the door slam shut behind himself.

Alex was still seething when he pulled into his driveway. He shut the car off, but made no move to get out, instead he leaned his head back closing his eyes and taking a few deep breaths.

It hurt. Seeing the man who had so easily walked away from Jo and Katie. He would do anything for those two. They had become his life. And now this guy shows up ready to tear it all apart. Levi should have no rights to Katie; he didn't want her. He had told Jo as much when she announced her pregnancy to him. Alex sighed and opened his car door, walking to the house with heavy steps. How was he supposed to tell Jo? How did he tell her that she had to face this man from her past she never wanted to see again? This man who was now demanding to meet a child he had never cared about before. Now, when her life was falling into place and their happy ending was in sight.

At the sound of the front door closing, Jo looked up from the book she was reading with Katie. She couldn't help but notice the defeated look on Alex's face and the slump of his shoulders. She closed the book handing it to Katie and stood up to greet him, "Rough day?" she asked pecking his lips and pulling him into a comforting hug. He just sighed rubbing a hand down his face. "Wanna tell me about it?"

"Later," he grunted with a quick glance in Katie's direction. Jo nodded in understanding and kneaded soothing fingers into his neck and across his shoulders.

Not catching on to her parents solemn mood, Katie bounded over to Alex a happy smile on her face, "Daddy, you're home!" she threw herself against him hugging him around the waist.

His heart ached as he reached down lifting her into his arms. He couldn't lose her. "Hey, Katydid, I missed you today."

Lying together in the dark in bed that night, Jo curled into Alex's side, rested her head on his chest, and draped her arm across his waist. "You wanna tell me about your day now?" she pressed gently. She assumed he had a bad outcome with a patient; she wouldn't have ever guessed the events that had actually unfolded to put him in a sour mood.

"I don't.." he sighed heavily, "I don't know how to tell you this," he groaned, hating that he even had to tell her, hating that Levi had come to Seattle.

Jo stiffened, "O-okay. Just tell me; you're scaring me."

He pulled her closer bowing his head down to kiss her head drawing comfort from her familiar scent. After a beat, "I had a visitor at work today, well actually, he wanted to see you…"

"What? Who?" she tried to sit up her mind racing, but he tightened his arms around her holding her steady.

"It was Katie's da… Levi. It was Levi."

Jo was able to break free of Alex's embrace and sat up looking at him with big eyes, "Why?" her voice wavered, "What does he want?" She was shocked. She never expected to see him again; she never wanted to. But even as she asked 'why', she knew there was only one reason he would seek her out. But why now? Now that she was asking him to terminate any rights he didn't deserve in the first place.

"He got the papers and came to Seattle. He says he wants to see you, that he might not sign the papers, and that he has 'rights'. I told him he was full of shit and he should have thought about his rights before he abandoned you," Alex's voice was rising and his muscles tensing.

Jo scooted around in the bed until she was sitting beside where he was still lying. She smoothed her fingers through his hair and down his cheek in an attempt to calm him. "He's not on the birth certificate; he'd have to get a paternity test to prove anything, and I don't see him doing that," she soothed, "He's never met her, never been in her life. No one would grant him any kind of rights," she said with more confidence than she felt.

"He wouldn't tell me what exactly he wants. He just kept saying he wants to see you and work it out with you," Alex rolled onto his stomach resting his head in Jo's lap.

She continued to run her fingers through his short hair, "Okay," she nodded, "So I guess I'll have to meet with him."

"Tomorrow at 9 in the ER conference room," he informed her of the meeting he had already set up, "and I'm coming with you."

Jo clung tightly to Alex's hand as they entered the conference room together. Levi was already there and seated at the head of the table, a seat he specifically chose as a position of power. "What is he doing here?" he asked eyeing Alex suspiciously, no greeting or anything.

"Hello, Levi," Jo said coldly, ignoring his question, "Why, after all these years, why now?" she got right to the point.

"I said I wanted to work this out with you. Why is he here?" Levi asked again.

"He's here with me. Don't worry about it. What do you want?" Jo had chosen a seat just two down from Levi on the right side and Alex was keeping his distance at the opposite end of the table.

"I.. When I got these papers," he held up the envelope, "I realized what I'm missing out on. I just want a chance to know my kid. I deserve to know her."

"No," Jo shook her head vehemently, "you don't deserve anything," she spit out. "Until you got those papers, you didn't even know for sure you had a kid. I could have miscarried or…or changed my mind and chosen to abort. You didn't know if you had a son or daughter, what her name was, when her birthday is. So don't tell me you 'deserve' to know her." Jo blew out an angry breath and spoke again before Levi could answer, "I told you not to find me."

"Jo, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I told you _that_ , too." Alex smirked, biting his lip to hold back a laugh. This man had no idea what he was up against.

"Jo, just hear me out," Levi tried again.

"No, you listen to me. You had your chance. You chose to walk away; you chose not to know your child. You don't deserve anything. Not a thing. The only man who deserves to be called Katie's daddy is Alex. He has been there for her from the first day he met her. He has given her so much. Everything she never got from you he has given to her. He is the only father that little girl has ever known, and he has loved her like a dad, better than a lot of dads love their own kids. He is her dad, and he's going to be her dad. You can sign the papers and do it the easy way, or I'll drag your ass to court and show off just what kind of a deadbeat jerk you are. Your choice. Maybe this time you're man enough to make the right choice." Jo met Alex's eyes seeing tears glistening in his and returned his wobbly smile.

The room was quiet for a long time. The only sound was the muffled noise of the bustling hospital beyond the closed door. Jo had said her piece, Alex was there solely for moral support and had no intentions of speaking during the meeting, and Levi was mulling his options. Finally the redhead nodded in resignation, "Fine, I'll sign the papers, but I'd still like an opportunity to meet Katie and get to know her. We both would, my wife and I."

"Your wife?" Jo cocked an eyebrow.

"Umm, yeah, I got married a little over a year ago. When Denise saw the papers she convinced me that I should fight for Katie. And she was right," Jo opened her mouth to argue, but Levi held up his hand stopping her, "What I mean is she was right that I should get to know Katie. I never should have let you take her away from me."

"Take her away from you?" Jo exploded, jumping up from the table. "You didn't want us. I distinctly remember telling you that if 'you don't choose us now, you don't get us ever'. And you were fine with that. You didn't want to know your child. You wanted to go on with your life like she never happened, and I gave you that. I let you live your life. You don't get to come here now and accuse me of taking her from you. I don't know what you told your wife, but you better set the record straight," Jo was pacing the floor, shaking from anger. Alex came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her whispering soothing words in her ear. She turned in his arms and held on to him tightly letting his low voice calm her.

"I'm sorry," Levi apologized once again, "I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was that I made a bad decision; I never should have told you I didn't want our baby."

Jo sniffled and turned to see Levi signing the paperwork that would terminate his parental rights allowing Alex to legally adopt Katie. She took a deep breath and conceded, "Katie is too young right now; she wouldn't understand, but when she's older, if she wants to meet you, I would be okay with that. But it's her decision in her time. We'll contact you; you don't contact us."

"Okay, that sounds fair," Levi agreed. If he was honest with himself that was more than he should hope for, considering. Jo was right, he had chosen to not know his own child for the first four years of her life. And then only changed his mind at the urging of his wife.

He pushed the papers towards Jo, got up from the table, and left. When the door closed behind him, Jo collapsed into Alex's arms. "I really thought I would never see him again," she said quietly, "and I would have been so fine with that." Alex circled his arms around her waist and rested his forehead against hers. "I thought I would be okay; I didn't think I would feel anything, but seeing him, I got so angry that anyone would willingly choose not to know that amazing little girl. And for him to…" she let her voice trail off; he wasn't worth her anger.

"It's over now; it's all over now," Alex shushed her tenderly, smoothing his hands up and down her sides.

"It is," she agreed with a grin, "And we got the papers. You can officially adopt Katie!" The stress of the last twenty-four hours dissolved as they laughed together when Alex pumped his fist in the air, and their lips met in a celebratory kiss.

That night, the family of three enjoyed a picnic in the backyard, complete with champagne for the adults, to celebrate. Katie was oblivious to what they were celebrating, but she loved the picnic; she always wanted to eat 'outside on the blanket' ever since her first picnic. They stayed outside, lying on the blanket and looking up at the stars for hours. Jo pointed out a shooting star just as Katie was dropping off to sleep. They all three closed their eyes to make a wish, but nothing they could wish for could compare to what they already had.


	25. Forever

**Forever**

The third Saturday of September dawned with beautiful weather. The sky was blue and sunny, there was a gentle breeze, and the birds were singing. And Jo was relaxed. All of the planning and rushing around was done. All she had to do on that day was to get married.

They had rented a waterfront cottage with a large vibrant garden for the wedding. Jo and Katie had spent the night there with Jo's bridesmaids, Callie and Stephanie, and Sofia and Zola, the other two flower girls. The women enjoyed a lazy morning before sharing an early lunch and getting ready for the 2:00 wedding.

Around noon, Alex arrived at the cottage with his 'groomsmen', Meredith and Arizona. Meredith swatted his hands away from his tie as he attempted to tie it while looking in the mirror, "Nervous?"

He met her eyes and tried to hide his smile, "Not at all. I've never been more sure of anything in my life."

"Aww," Arizona placed a hand over her heart and sniffled.

In a room down the hall, Callie was smoothing down Jo's hair while Stephanie fussed over the finishing touches of her makeup. When they were satisfied Jo stood and turned towards Katie. "Mama, you look like a princess," the little girl gasped taking in Jo's simple white lace dress and perfectly curled hair with white flowers woven in.

Jo took Katie's hand and stood her in front of herself in front of the full length mirror, "You do too, baby, you do too." Katie grinned at her reflection. The little girl was dressed in a navy blue dress and had a braid with yellow rose buds sprinkled in. "It's not quite as good as Daddy's, but it'll do," Jo said running her fingers down Katie's hair.

Jo's heart skipped a beat when she heard the music start playing. She watched out the window as Alex, Meredith, and Arizona took their places. She twisted her bouquet of white and yellow flowers in her hands anxiously. She couldn't wait to walk down the aisle to Alex. He stood there so proudly looking so happy and handsome.

Stephanie went first, followed by Callie. Jo didn't think anyone had ever walked so slowly. Sofia and Zola went next, each holding one of Bailey's hands to escort him down the aisle to stand with his mother. Katie walked out directly in front of her mother scattering yellow rose petals.

The music swelled, at last it was Jo's turn. She walked out onto the back porch and down the steps. She made her way down the cobblestone garden path towards the love of her life. She felt like she was floating, like her feet never touched the ground.

Her eyes locked with Alex's, and both their faces lit with smiles. All her dreams were coming true. The dreams she had never hoped to dream for herself. Alex took several steps forward to meet Jo. He took her hand and leaned in kissing her cheek, "You are breathtaking," he whispered. She squeezed his hand as they turned to face the officiant.

They recited traditional vows as they pledged their love for one another in front of their friends who had become family. And then the moment they had all been waiting for, "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." They gazed lovingly into each other's eyes as their lips met in a tender kiss. The children all slapped their hands over their eyes causing laughter to ripple through the crowd.

They broke apart as their friends erupted in applause. Alex reached down and lifted Katie into his arms, and the new family of three made their way back down the aisle together.

After posing for photos, the wedding party joined the reception already in full swing. Meredith gave the best man's toast enumerating the ways Alex had changed since Jo and Katie came into his life. She ended her speech by saying, "Over the years, I've watched as Alex has gone from a surly intern to a compassionate pediatric surgeon who would do anything for the kids. But it wasn't until you came into his life, Jo, that he reached that same level of growth, maturity, and contentment in his personal life. He has become a loyal, reliable partner for you and dad for Katie. The two of you have made him happier than I've ever seen him. Alex, I'm so proud of who you have become, and I wish you and Jo nothing but happiness." Everyone raised their glasses as Meredith handed the microphone off to Callie.

"When I met Jo, we became fast friends. We bonded over the challenges of raising a daughter while keeping up the busy schedule of a surgeon. Over the last couple of years, I've watched Jo not only blossom as a doctor, but also as a mother and as Alex's girlfriend. She's had her ups and downs romantically speaking, but she has definitely found her greatest up. Who would have ever guessed it would have been with Karev," the crowd chuckled and Alex rolled his eyes. Jo leaned her head over on his shoulder and patted his chest. Callie continued, "But really, you two are an inspiration. Your love for each other and for Katie, your devotion and loyalty to one another, and your commitment through hard times is evident to anyone who cares to pay attention. Congratulations!"

Alex took the microphone from Callie and cleared his throat, "Umm… Before we cut the cake, there is one more thing we have to celebrate today. It's not only mine and Jo's wedding day… It's a very special day for me and Katie, also." He waved Katie, who had perked up at the sound of her name, forward. He continued his speech when she was standing in front of him. Kneeling down eye level with her, "Katie, when I wanted to marry your mama, it wasn't just for her. I wanted to be a family with you too; I wanted to be your dad. You've been calling me daddy for awhile now, and I've been like a daddy to you, but today we make it official. Today I am adopting you. Starting right now, you are my real true daughter same as you are your mommy's."

Katie's eyes widened and a smile broke out on her face, "Really? You can do that?" She didn't know anything about adoption. She didn't know Alex could really truly be her daddy, but she wanted that more than anything else. Tears filled her eyes as she crashed into his arms.

Alex lifted her up wiping a few tears from his own eyes. The same judge who had married him and Jo came forward with the papers for Alex to sign. With the last scratch of the pen, he kissed Katie on the temple and murmured, "It's all done now; you are my daughter." He set her back down on her feet and presented her with a silver pendent with the initials 'KAK' on it, "From now on, you are Katie Karev, just like my last name is Karev, and now your mommy's last name is Karev."

"Oh thank you, Daddy," she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. She was too young now, but one day the connection would mean so much to her.

Jo joined her family as they shared hugs and tears. There was hardly a dry eye in the room. Eventually, they did cut the cake and toss the bouquet and garter. They celebrated with their friends until evening when they made their way back home. That night was no different than many nights before, except everything was different. They had been a family for a long time, but now they were officially and legally a family. And it didn't much matter to them that they have it spelled out on paper, but it felt good to declare their love and intentions to stay together for life. There was something special about publicly making that declaration. They were finally a family, and they would stand for each other through thick and thin. Nothing would break them.

The next morning the Karevs left on a family vacation to Disneyland. They wanted to celebrate with Katie first. Two months later, Alex and Jo went on their honeymoon, just the two of them.

It was the start of a happy life for the family whose bond would only grow closer and stronger over the years. They had found their forever in each other. They had found their safe place to land.

 **The End**

* * *

This chapter of the Karevs' lives has come to a close and so the story has come to an end. A huge thank you to you all who have followed my story and given me encouragement through reviews and favorites. Each and every review means so much to me. I did have a request for an epilogue ;) that I am planning on writing. I hope to have it posted early next week.


	26. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Jo laid awake in bed eyes wide open, staying as quiet and still as she could, listening, waiting for Alex's breathing to deepen and even out indicating he had fallen asleep. They had finally crawled in bed at twenty minutes after midnight following a long night of assembling toys and wrapping presents. After much convincing, an overly excited Katie had gone to bed at 9:30. It took some threatening that Santa wouldn't come, but she finally went to sleep, and her parents could get started.

When Jo was sure Alex was asleep, she snuck out of bed and tiptoed downstairs. She rummaged in her purse until her hand closed around the box. She tucked it away in Alex's stocking and hurried back upstairs. She slipped into bed snuggling in next to Alex and falling asleep almost instantly.

Just like they knew she would, Katie woke her parents up early the next morning. Jo groaned and squinted at the bright blue numbers on her bedside clock. 6:11. Well, that was later than she was anticipating. Katie grabbed her hands and started pulling, "Come on, Mommy, get up. We have to see what Santa brought."

"Okay, okay, I'm up," Jo said through a yawn.

Satisfied, Katie ran around to Alex's side of the bed. She tugged on the arm that he had tucked up under his head, "Da-aa-ddy," she whined, "Wake up, wake up!"

He rolled over rubbing his eyes before he sat up, "Alright, Katydid, I'm awake," he ruffled her messy curls, "What're we gettin' up so early for?" he teased.

"It's Christmas! Santa came, Santa came!" she danced around unable to contain her excitement or energy.

Alex and Jo shared a look as they chuckled at her antics. "Well, we better go see what he left us," Alex matched her enthusiasm. He hoisted her up and threw her over his shoulder trotting down the stairs, leaving Jo to follow behind with a content smile on her face. Marrying Alex Karev and making him her daughter's daddy had been the best thing she had ever done. They had been married for three months, and not a day went by that she wasn't amazed by the bond Alex and Katie had forged, not a day went by that she wasn't beyond grateful for the way he had stepped up and stepped in for them.

The parents watched in delight as Katie oooed and awwed over each of her toys. Jo got up from the couch and handed out the stockings. She clutched hers in her lap unopened, eyes trained on Alex in anticipation. She watched as he pulled the box out of his stocking, and she knew the instant he realized what he was looking at.

Alex's heart started pounding, and he snapped his eyes up to meet Jo's with the hint of a grin pulling at his lips, "Are you…?"

She bit her lip, "I think I might be," her right shoulder raised and dropped. His face lit up and he tackled her peppering her face with kisses. "We don't even know for sure yet," she laughed.

"Go take the test," he reached back for the box that had fallen from his hand and pressed it into hers.

* * *

9 MONTHS LATER

Meredith watched Jo closely as the younger woman's face, above her surgical mask, scrunched up and her breathing increased, "Wilson?"

Alex and Jo had been married for almost a year now, but her maiden name still rolled off the attendings' tongues more often than not. "Yes, Dr. Grey?" Jo's hands stilled in the patient's open body.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, Dr. Grey," she gave her a confused look.

Meredith watched as Jo winced in pain again, "You're not having contractions?"

"Oh that? Yeah, I guess I've had a few," she admitted, "I'm fine." Dr. Grey had given her the opportunity to take the lead on a bowel resection, and she was solely focused on the surgery at hand.

Mer eyed her skeptically, "If you're sure." Jo nodded and resumed her work. "Don't kill my patient, Wilson," the older doctor admonished.

"No, Dr. Grey, of course not," Jo murmured once again concentrating on her patient.

Meredith followed Jo into the scrub room following the surgery, "Good job in…" she stopped and narrowed her eyes as Jo braced herself on the sink in front of her, knuckles turning white as she breathed heavily through a contraction, "You're in labor," she accused wide eyed.

"Yeah, I think I am," the younger woman finally admitted. The pains had been coming closer together, and now that she wasn't focusing on her patient and the operation, she couldn't deny how bad they were actually hurting.

"Hmm, that's one way to get out of doing post-op notes," the attending smirked, "Go find your husband..and congratulations. Keep us updated."

Jo slowly made her way up to the peds floor stopping periodically as a new wave of pain would wash over her. "Laura, hey," she greeted the charge nurse, "Have you seen, Dr. Karev?"

"Umm yeah, he had to take Timmy to surgery. His scans were worse this morning," the nurse explained with a touch of sadness in her voice.

Jo's heart broke for the little boy and his family, "Poor kid," she shook her head, "Thanks." Jo turned to go but stopped, clutching her abdomen, as another contraction wracked her body.

"Dr. Karev, are you okay?" Laura rushed around the desk.

When the pain had passed, Jo waved her off, "I will be; I'm in labor."

The nurse's eyes widened, "Do you want me to page him?"

"No, no, it's okay."

"They've been in there for awhile," Laura offered feebly.

Jo returned to the surgical floor, glanced at the OR board, and climbed the steps to the gallery overlooking Alex's OR. She was relieved to see that he was closing. She stopped for a minute to admire his surgical technique. She was always impressed with the way his big hands were so precise and could manipulate delicate tissue with such ease and gentleness.

Alex was surprised to find Jo waiting for him in the scrub room, "Jo!?"

"Hey, Alex…"

"What are you doin' here?" he soaped up his hands.

"It's time.."

He gave her a questioning look until realization dawned on him as she rubbed her stomach breathing through a contraction, "It's time?"

"Uh huh," she nodded, distracted.

He quickly dried his hands, "Come on, let's get you up to OB. Why didn't you page me?" When he stepped closer, he noticed that her face was flushed and perspiration glistened on her forehead.

"You were busy, it's fine. It's only been a couple of hours. We have time. I was in labor with Katie for eighteen hours," Jo shrugged, "How's Timmy?"

Alex sighed, "I don't know.. We got it all for now.."

Alex escorted Jo to the obstetrical floor and got her checked in and settled into a room. The nurse started an IV, did an admission assessment, and an exam. "You're at 5cm. Halfway there," she chirped.

Somewhere from the back of his mind, something Alex had learned in med school resurfaced, and with Jo's next contraction he used the heel of his hand to give counter-pressure on her low back. "That helps," she nodded, "keep doing that." And he did with each contraction. In between contractions he would rub soothing circles on her back or massage her neck. He offered her his hand, cool wash cloths, and ice chips.

"You did this for eighteen hours all by yourself?" he was in awe of her. She was so strong.

"Well, eventually I got an epidural," she shrugged, "With Katie my water broke when I was making myself a bowl of cereal. The contractions started minutes later, hard. I drove myself to the hospital and wanted to cry when they told me I was only 2cm. My doctor wouldn't let me have an epidural until I was 4. That was the longest seven hours of my life."

Alex wiped her forehead with the cool washcloth and kissed her cheek murmuring in her ear, "You are incredible."

When her most recent contraction subsided, Jo croaked out, "Speaking of epidurals, I'm ready."

Alex found her nurse to have the anesthesiologist paged. He stood in front of her during the procedure letting her lean on him and squeeze his hands.

At one point after the epidural, when Jo was no longer in pain, she looked over to Alex and said simply, "Thank you."

He gave her a questioning look, "For what?"

"For being here," she explained, "The first time I was all alone. This time it's so much different, better. You've stayed by my side through everything the morning sickness, mood swings, and that alone should have sent you running," he smirked, "All of the doctors appointments and ultrasounds, buying furniture and setting up the nursery. And everything today…"

"Jo, of course I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, ever," he insisted earnestly.

She smiled, "I know, and I'm just saying thanks." They shared a kiss that was interrupted by Jo's doctor knocking on the door, pushing it open, and clearing her throat.

"Jo," the doctor smiled, "comfortable with your epidural now?"

"Yes, very," Jo nodded enthusiastically.

"Good. Are you ready to speed things up? I could go ahead and break your water."

Jo agreed, and the doctor performed her examination declaring Jo was now dilated to 7cm. She broke her water and told them she would be around when the time came.

Just ten short minutes after the doctor left, Alex noticed that Jo was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable and was breathing through her contractions again. "Jo?" he asked with concern.

"Go get the nurse. I need to push," she commanded him.

"The doctor just left; you're only a 7. It's not time yet," he argued smoothing her hair back from her face.

"Alex, go get the nurse," she demanded. At that he left the room.

Jo smirked to herself when the nurse hurried into her room with Alex right on her heels. She heard the nurse admonishing him, "You always believe a laboring mama when she says she has to push." The nurse did her exam, "You are complete and that baby has come down to a plus two station. I'm gonna go grab Dr. Sullivan. You're doing great, Jo, just breathe through a couple more contractions.. Unless you want Dr. Karev to deliver the baby," she chuckled.

The doctor returned to Jo's room, and after only two pushes, Jo delivered a healthy baby boy. Alex cut the umbilical cord, and Dr. Sullivan placed the squirming, crying newborn on Jo's chest.

Alex broke his gaze away from the baby and met Jo's eyes, "You did amazing. He's perfect," his voice cracked and he wiped a few tears.

After letting the family bond for over an hour, the nurse took the baby to get his measurements and do a complete assessment. Alex followed her to the radiant warmer and watched her every move.

"Alex, leave her alone. Let her do her job," Jo laughed. When he ignored her, she tried again, "Alex, go get Katie from daycare; I wanna see my little girl." Finally, at that, Alex moved. He pressed a kiss to Jo's head and left the room. Jo shared a smile with the nurse.

When Alex returned a few minutes later, he had Katie in tow. She was holding tightly to a stuffed bear and a balloon for her new brother. Jo waved her over to her, "C'mere." Alex hoisted the little girl up onto the bed beside her mother. Jo wrapped her in her arms, "Hey sweetheart, did you have a good day?"

The little girl nodded and twisted in her mom's arms trying to catch a glimpse of her brother. She pushed away from Jo, "Mommy, can I get down and go see my bubby,"

The nurse turned from where she was swaddling the baby with a smile, "I'm all done. You stay there and I'll bring him over."

She brought him over to Jo and started to hand him to her, but Jo stopped her, "It's okay, you can give him to Katie. We've been practicing, haven't we?" she kissed the little girl on top of the head, "Show the nurse how you can hold your baby brother."

Jo helped Katie get in position and the nurse laid the baby in her arms. "You're such a good big sister," the nurse praised, "You hold him just like a pro."

Alex joined Jo and Katie on the bed. Jo laid her head on his shoulder and intertwined their fingers. They watched their two children with hearts overflowing with joy. Katie leaned down pressing a kiss to the baby's forehead, "I love you, baby Brayden."


End file.
